My brother Jean and I had a few days in Holland last week to see Metallica live on their new tour. The shows were great, but that is not what this idea is about.
On the flight to Amsterdam, there was not real way of know who were travelling for King's Day and who were travelling for Metallica.
Waiting for our flight out of Amsterdam on the Sunday it was obvious though. Metallica T-Shirts all over the place. Everyone silently acknowledging that they shared the event and "were there!".
Now that it was obvious that many people travelled to Amsterdam just to see Metallica, it made me think about the impact of a band like Metallica going on tour.
It was obvious that Metallica coming to town had a very direct impact on the local economy in and around Amsterdam.
How many flights, hotel room, taxis, restaurant meals, drinks in the bar etc. were bought and paid for, only because Metallica were in town?
The fact that Metallica is doing the "No Repeat Weekend" tour, where you can only buy tickets for 2 nights, someone who would normally come for one night had to stay multiple nights in order to see both gigs.
This all reminds me of an explanation of black holes and their gravitation effect on their surrounding. Imagine a large trampoline, with a heavy ball on it. Wherever the ball is, the surface will be pulled down and anything in the area falls towards the heavy ball.
As Metallica travels around Europe over the coming months, they'll be like a black hole moving around the local economies.
The obvious flip side of this is that anyone traveling to one of these cities, won't be spending money in their own local economy, but it is not a direct impact, because you are very unlikely to buy flights and hotel rooms in your own local area anyway.
On the flight to Amsterdam, there was not real way of know who were travelling for King's Day and who were travelling for Metallica.
Waiting for our flight out of Amsterdam on the Sunday it was obvious though. Metallica T-Shirts all over the place. Everyone silently acknowledging that they shared the event and "were there!".
Now that it was obvious that many people travelled to Amsterdam just to see Metallica, it made me think about the impact of a band like Metallica going on tour.
It was obvious that Metallica coming to town had a very direct impact on the local economy in and around Amsterdam.
How many flights, hotel room, taxis, restaurant meals, drinks in the bar etc. were bought and paid for, only because Metallica were in town?
The fact that Metallica is doing the "No Repeat Weekend" tour, where you can only buy tickets for 2 nights, someone who would normally come for one night had to stay multiple nights in order to see both gigs.
This all reminds me of an explanation of black holes and their gravitation effect on their surrounding. Imagine a large trampoline, with a heavy ball on it. Wherever the ball is, the surface will be pulled down and anything in the area falls towards the heavy ball.
As Metallica travels around Europe over the coming months, they'll be like a black hole moving around the local economies.
The obvious flip side of this is that anyone traveling to one of these cities, won't be spending money in their own local economy, but it is not a direct impact, because you are very unlikely to buy flights and hotel rooms in your own local area anyway.