TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two days of concerts by British rock band Coldplay over the weekend (Nov. 11-12) drew more than 170,000 visitors to the Kaohsiung National Stadium and resulted in half a billion New Taiwan dollars in revenue for Kaohsiung City.
The Kaohsiung City Government said the highest number of people in and around the venue on Saturday reached 86,505, which it calculated through real-time monitoring of its AI big data system, per CNA. It set a new stadium record, surpassing the number of fans for Korean pop group Blackpink in March.
Transactions in the night markets of the commercial district rose by 30%, while the occupancy rate in the city's hotels reached 90%. This resulted in an estimated NT$550 million (US$17.02 million) in revenue from tourism over the weekend.
To facilitate the transportation of music fans from all over Taiwan, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) personally visited the command center for two days over the weekend. The city government coordinated with the Kaohsiung MRT to increase the number of trains and deployed shuttle buses after the concerts.
On Saturday and Sunday, the dispersal of crowds was successfully completed in 82 and 88 minutes, respectively.
Chen wrote on Facebook Monday morning (Nov. 13), "Thank you Coldplay for giving us two wonderful nights." He said that there will be other artists coming to perform concerts in Kaohsiung, such as Ed Sheeran in February and Rod Steward in March.
He said the city welcomes international superstars and music fans with its convenient transportation facilities and well-equipped concert venues. The Kaoshiung Bureau of Cultural Affairs also said that such performances enhance the city's image.
On Sunday, Coldplay posted a photo of the packed crowd in the Kaohsiung National Stadium with the hashtag #ColdplayKaohsiung. It drew 242,000 likes and over 1,100 comments, with Taiwanese praising the show and foreign music fans sharing that they had specially flown to Taiwan to attend the concert.
Major night markets and famous late-night snack shops were reportedly still crowded until 1 a.m. after the concert.
According to statistics from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, of the 170,000 people who came for the two concerts, 70% came from other cities, counties, and foreign countries. Overseas visitors hailed from places such as Hong Kong, Macau, Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.
