Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — With four days until Election Day, Kamala Harris is attacking Donald Trump for saying Wednesday night in Wisconsin that, against his advisers’ advice, he is going to keep saying he will “protect the women” “whether the women like it or not.” Both candidates continue their whirlwind campaigns in…
From Taylor Swift’s record-breaking concert tours to Mega-Sports events and the surge of screen tourism inspired by hit shows like HBO’s The White Lotus, these phenomena are transforming travel patterns worldwide. The allure of mega-events and on-screen destinations can generate substantial short-term economic boosts, yet they also bring challenges. Dr. Isabella Blengini, Associate Professor of Economics at EHL Hospitality Business School, delves into the complex and multi-dimensional impacts of event tourism and pop culture tourism.As the tourism industry rebounds from recent downturns, event- and pop culture-driven travel is playing a central role in reinvigorating global destinations, particularly city tourism. Mega-events like sports championships, high-profile concerts, and screen tourism—where fans flock to destinations featured in films and TV shows—are influencing where people travel and how local economies adapt to this influx. These trends offer immense economic benefits but also raise concerns about long-term sustainability and impacts on local communities, especially in areas where tourism is not a structurally strong economic contributor.
Mega-Events: Short-Term Surge, Long-Term Planning
The summer of 2024 has been a prime example and a culmination point of mass-event tourism, from international football championships and the Olympics to high-profile concert tours like Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Event tourism (sports, culture, music) has been a high-growth tourism segment in recent years and highly important economic value creator to established destinations. New York’s entertainment industry contributes directly with 10 percent to the economy. London had over 750 events (on top of Soho theater productions) between 2017 and 20, creating 2.5 Bn GBP in economic value. So for good reasons, mega-events like these are highly sought after by countries looking to boost visibility and attract tourists. According to Dr. Blengini, they can stimulate local economies in the short term, but their long-term impact depends on careful planning.
“Mega-events offer developing countries an excuse to invest in infrastructure, like highways and public transportation, while more developed nations use these opportunities to refresh their image,” says Dr. Blengini. However, she warns that these events are often not as profitable as they seem.
Nevertheless, event-driven tourism can bring impressive economic results. For example, data shows that major concerts bring a 25% boost to hotel performance, with luxury hotels seeing the largest occupancy increases. The average daily rate (ADR) for upscale hotels also surges, driven by demand. During Adele’s ten-concert residency in Munich, more than 730,000 fans attended, contributing significantly to the city’s tourism economy. Munich’s economic department noted that one Adele concertgoer is economically worth about two regular holiday tourists.
Beyond direct spending, these events generate indirect benefits through the so-called “Halo Effect”, where the marketing visibility of a destination leads to longer-term tourism inflows. According to research on film-induced tourism, destinations can experience up to a 50% increase in visitation within five years after being featured in a film or TV show . This lasting effect is often fueled by word-of-mouth recommendations, which remain a crucial inspiration for new travelers.
Source: CoStar, STR August 2024
The Taylor Swift Effect: Dynamic Pricing and Local Economies
A notable phenomenon in recent years is the economic surge caused by blockbuster entertainment events like Taylor Swift’s tours, known as “Swiftonomics”. U.S. economists estimated that Swift’s U.S. tour in 2023 generated 4.6 billion US-Dollar in consumer spending, more than the economic output of several U.S. states. Local economies can see major shifts in hospitality demand, retail spending, and even inflation. For instance, Beyoncé’s concerts in Stockholm were calculated to have contributed to Sweden’s inflation rate increase by 0,3 percentage points due to rising prices.
In advance of Nov. 5th, owners of small businesses–the most trusted institution in America–report record levels of uncertainty. But both parties are playing to their concerns.By Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes Staff
Despite the deep divide between the political parties, one patch of common ground remains: Small businesses are likely to benefit, no matter who wins the November 5th election. Politicians have long pandered to the sector, a tradition Ronald Reagan highlighted in 1983 when he joked in a radio address that “every week should be Small Business Week, because America is small business.” It makes sense. Small businesses not only employ 46% of all private sector workers, but since 1995 have generated more than 60% of new private-sector jobs.
Moreover, with the American public increasingly distrustful of nearly all institutions, small business retains its sheen. It scores the highest of any sector in Gallup’s latest “Confidence in Institutions” survey, with 68% of Americans saying they trust small business “a great deal or quite a lot.” That stands in stark contrast to the mere 16% who say the same for big business and (at the bottom) the 9% who have similar trust in Congress.
Yet small business owners have election jitters.
For 51 years, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has tracked small businesses’ uncertainty by counting “don’t know” and “uncertain” responses to six key questions about the economy and their own expansion plans. In September, the gauge jumped 11 points from August, hitting its highest level in the survey’s history—higher even than in September of 2020, when the country was in the grip of the Covid pandemic and facing another fraught presidential election. Meanwhile, the NFIB’s Optimism Index remained low at 91.5, marking the 33rd consecutive month below the 50-year average of 98.
On one hand, former President Donald Trump is a familiar choice for small business owners, with his record already established from his first term. Back in February 2020, a CNBC/SurveyMonkey poll showed 64% of small business owners approved of Trump—before the pandemic and lockdowns ravaged and then reshaped the business landscape. Now, by contrast, the latest survey from September 2024 shows only 38% of small business owners approve of President Joe Biden.
On the other hand, Vice President Harris has been vocal about her plans to encourage small businesses, emphasizing a significant tax deduction aimed at making it easier to start a new venture.
“Both parties want to appeal to the small business community,” says Todd McCracken, the President of the National Small Business Association (NSBA), a non-partisan advocacy group. “But they take very different approaches.” Republicans, McCracken says, go straight for tax cuts and slashing regulations. Democrats—Vice President Harris especially—want to make it easier to get small businesses going. “Who small business owners support depends on where they are in their life cycle.”
Jim Croley and his wife Jessica have run the Wooden Keg Tavern in St. Clair, Pennsylvania—part of the state’s anthracite coal region—since 2005. Croley says that while he’s managed to stay afloat despite rising costs (his fryer oil bill has surged from $130 to $300 a week), he often wonders how other local businesses without a dedicated clientele like his manage to keep going. “You have to run an ultra lean operation these days,” he says. “I’d love to have a full time manager, more cooks than I need, more waitstaff than I need, but you just can’t do that anymore.”
Croley says he’s uncertain how the election will ultimately impact small businesses. While he appreciates Harris’ focus on fostering new business growth, he points out that running a small business is challenging, with a high failure rate. Given the importance of small businesses to the economy, he believes, “it’s good to help people get off the ground, but better to support those who know how to operate”—a view he says that aligns him more with Republican proposals.
Harris has been actively courting small business owners—a traditionally Republican base—for good reason. According to a March 2024 study by American Progress, a think tank focused on progressive policy, the pandemic sparked a surge in entrepreneurship, startups, and new business formation. From 2021 to 2023, there were 5.2 million “likely employer business applications”—new business applications filed with the IRS as part of the process to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). That’s a 34% jump compared to the three years before the pandemic. The small business surge has been particularly notable in zip codes with large Black populations and was evident in 49 out of 50 states (Alaska being the exception) as well as the District of Columbia, the study found. Then there’s this: Half of Gen Z (those aged 16 to 25) dream of starting their own businesses, according to a 2023 study from Samsung and Morning Consult.
During the Biden Administration, the Small Business Administration has made a big push to support smaller startups, but has also made a technical change that makes nearly unlimited funding available to successful entrepreneurs who want to own multiple small businesses.
Plus, as Democrats crack down on big corporations with antitrust suits, increased regulation and calls for raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, backing small business helps them fend off accusations of being anti-capitalist.
Richard Trent, executive director of The Main Street Alliance—a group advocating for fairer treatment of small businesses relative to big corporations—doesn’t think small businesses win either way. He believes his members would fare better under Harris but understands why many small business owners lean toward the GOP.
“One of the smartest aspects of how Republican officials have run their campaigns is to signal a commitment to small business owners,” he says. “But, I think the Harris campaign was pretty hip to this, she took some of their language and made it her own.” Among the ways Trent says Harris has tailored this message is by promoting policies she believes will help the smallest businesses and foster startup growth in traditionally underrepresented communities.
Trent believes that the choice becomes clearer when you look at the big picture. He argues–(as do many economists, as well as nonpartisan think tanks like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget) that the Trump tax plan will ultimately drive up the deficit, which, in turn, raises the cost of capital. Higher rates, he notes, hit individuals and small businesses hardest since they’re more sensitive to increases than large corporations. “There’s a million different issues you can run through,” Trent says. “But it’s always the same, Republicans are good at messaging, but their plans don’t map to a sustainable small business ecosystem.”
Whoever wins the White House and control of Congress, one of the NSBA and similar groups’ top tax priorities for the year ahead will look pretty much the same. For small businesses, a big unresolved question is the future of Section 199A, also known as the Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction, which allows certain owners of pass-through businesses (sole-proprietorships, partnerships and S corps) to deduct up to 20% of their business income on their personal income tax returns. (As their name implies, rather than paying a separate corporate tax, pass-throughs pass all their profits and losses to individual owners’ 1040s.)
A part of Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul (officially known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act or TCJA), the QBI deduction was supposed to make the tax rates these mostly small businesses pay more in line with the reduced corporate income tax rate. TCJA cut the corporate rate from 35% to 21%, while the top individual rate only dropped from 39.6% to 37%. In 2020 alone, nearly 23 million small business owners claimed $166.1 billion in 199A deductions, according to the Congressional Research Service. But whereas the corporate cuts were made permanent, 199A and all the other Trump individual tax cuts, are slated to expire at the end of 2025.
Critics argue that the Section 199A deduction favors wealthier owners more than the smaller businesses it was meant to help. IRS data from 2020 shows that filers with over $1 million in adjusted gross income—just 2.2% of claimants that year—accounted for 39% of the amount shielded from tax, suggesting the bulk of tax savings landed with higher-income households.
Despite the criticism, the Congressional Research Service reports bipartisan support for extending the Section 199A deduction, though some reforms may be on the table.
Republicans aim to make it—and the broader 2017 Trump tax cuts—permanent.
“Small businesses flourished under President Trump’s leadership—with small business sentiment setting a record high in 2018—thanks in large part to his leadership on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and creation of the small business (199A) tax deduction,” said Brian Hughes, a senior advisor for the Trump Campaign, in an emailed statement. “Allowing this deduction to expire, would destroy small businesses who are responsible for creating 2 of every 3 new jobs, and thus annihilate Americans’ employment opportunities.”
Vice President Harris, for her part, has proposed simplifying tax filing for small businesses by creating a new standard deduction but hasn’t committed to extending Section 199A itself. The Harris campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“Our position is that we should reform 199A,” says John Arensmeyer, the founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, a national small business public policy advocate. Arensmeyer says Harris hasn’t taken a clear position on 199A, though he notes that former President Trump isn’t talking much about small business in general leaving onlookers to “divine” what his plans entail.
Josh Radman, founder of Presidio Advisors—a Denver-based financial planning firm launched in 2023 that helps Millennials nationwide manage their equity compensation, especially stock options—says what matters most for his business is the fate of the TCJA’s temporary tax cuts, including its increase in the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) exemption (since the AMT can reduce the favorable taxation of incentive stock options). These provisions have been a boon for his clients, and any changes will directly affect how he advises them in the future. Still, Radman says, like restaurateur Croley, his vote isn’t strictly business-driven.
“I’m not voting based on that,” he says. “There are many other factors that will also influence my vote in November.”
Harris has specifically proposed increasing the tax deduction for business start-up expenses from $5,000 to $50,000—a potential boost for new entrepreneurs. However, this change won’t benefit established small business owners who aren’t looking to launch a new venture.
“Harris has gone out of her way to have a small business plan,” Arensmeyer says. “We don’t endorse her (or Trump), but we appreciate that she’s putting out small business focused policies.”
If Trump isn’t making small business a focal point in his campaign, it doesn’t seem to be costing him any support. A September poll by the Job Creators Network, an organization founded by billionaire Home Depot cofounder and GOP mega donor Bernie Marcus, showed Trump with a 12-point lead over Harris among small business owners. In that survey, 51% of respondents rated him as the better candidate for small business needs, compared to 39% for Harris. This support comes despite nearly even political affiliation among small business owners: 35% identify as Republican, 30% as Democrat, and 33% as Independent.
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On October 28, 2024, Speed Business Meeting, jointly organized by 5 bilateral chambers of commerce and business associations: CANSEE Canadian Serbian Business Association, Slovenian Business Club, Confindustria Serbia, British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce BSCC, and French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce CCIFS, took place at the Mona Plaza Hotel in Belgrade, attracting 70 participants from various companies.
The event opened with a warm welcome from Mirjana Dončic-Beaton, Managing Director of CANSEE, who expressed gratitude to the Mona Plaza Hotel for partnering with the organizers for the third consecutive year. “This event provides a unique opportunity to meet business partners outside of your usual contact group and industry peers,” Dončić-Beaton noted.
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Mirjana Dončić-Beaton concluded her speech by wishing all participants success and inviting them to unwind with refreshments and further networking opportunities after the meetings wrap up.
Following ten rounds of 8-minute meetings, participants enjoyed a delightful selection of food and cocktails, providing an excellent opportunity to relax and network.
John Spellman vacated the Washington governor’s mansion, a Georgian-style structure on state Capitol grounds in Olympia, in early 1985. Since then, no Republican has gone to the residence of the Evergreen State’s chief executive except to visit. GOP legislators occasionally grouse about the stinginess of invitations.Democrats have owned the chief executive office for going on 40 years, the longest GOP shutout of any state. Even Massachusetts, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Hawaii have had Republican governors in that time. Former elected King County Sheriff Dave Reichert, also a former congressman, has only an outside chance of upsetting state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s bid to move up.And yet, if voters pass a quartet of referendums, it almost won’t matter who controls the governor’s mansion. Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) has ruled the state for three terms. These initiatives threaten to undercut his legacy and pull the rug out from under Democratic state House Speaker Laurie Jinkins while they’re at it.The initiatives are I-2066, which would head off a de facto natural gas ban in new construction; I-2117, which would eliminate the cap-and-trade carbon tax on fuel and undercut a series of green infrastructure projects; I-2019, which would eliminate the state’s new capital gains tax; and I-2124, which would let workers opt out of a payroll tax for the state’s actuarily questionable long-term care insurance plan that Jinkins spearheaded.Inslee is the most concerned about the carbon tax, his signature achievement, though he has also been outspoken in his opposition to natural gas. “This defective, deceptive, dangerous initiative only guarantees one thing, and that’s more pollution,” Inslee warned of I-2117 at a July press conference.The retiring governor has proposed tax credits of about $200 annually for middle-class and poor Washingtonians to take some of the sting out of the law. It currently costs drivers about 43 cents per gallon at the pump, with higher prices coming next year, on top of the state’s 52 cents per gallon gas tax.Inslee launched a “No on 2017 Road Trip” in October. He has been holding rallies around the state and knocking on doors to try to get Washingtonians to vote against it.Ben Tindall, executive director of the Washington advocacy group Save Family Farming, argues that voters should not buy that sales pitch.“The Climate Commitment Act has cost Washingtonians over $2.2 billion in the past year alone,” he told the Washington Examiner via email. The estimated cost to the farming community was in the “hundreds of millions of dollars since the carbon pricing scheme went into effect in 2023.”Tindall described the current climate regime as a “state-orchestrated cash grab.” He complained that the state Department of Ecology “continues to ignore the farm-fuel exemption that agriculture was granted in the statute.”Ferndale resident Gary Dyck isn’t so pointed in his criticism and said he thinks some of the things that the government is pursuing might be at least well intentioned. At the same time, he’s likely to vote for I-2117.Dyck complained about the lack of containment of Washington wildfires, for instance, despite increased funds to reduce such threats. He is all for salmon restoration efforts that make sense but is watching legally mandated culverts being installed in places “that weren’t fish-friendly in the first place.”He also said he doesn’t think that some of the more high-tech infrastructure improvements have been made truly inclusive.“As a person who owns a pickup, I see all these EV charging stations going in, but no infrastructure has been put in place for someone who tows,” he said.Machine politics vs. direct democracyThat climate regime might fall in November, or it might not, and the same is true for all of the other initiatives. Early polling had Washington voters favoring the measures. Then the state’s well-oiled Democratic machine went to work.Inslee, Ferguson, and other elected Democrats and officially nonpartisan progressives in government and media have been tearing the initiatives down using a two-part strategy. The first part is warnings of the great harm that repeal would do to various government programs, the environment, and your elderly grandma.To that end, legislators rejiggered the law on initiatives to get what supporters charge is prejudicial ballot language added. For instance, in the matter of the long-term care tax, voters have this warning to climb over: “This measure would decrease funding for Washington’s public insurance program providing long-term care benefits and services. Should this measure be enacted into law?”The second part might be called the deplorablization of Washington politics by smearing those people who support the initiatives. Yakima Mayor Janice Deccio field-tested this strategy when she called the police last Labor Day to report “some far-right-wing petitioners” at the local Walmart.
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Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) The 2024 Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) opened at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center on Friday, featuring a record 1,500 booths for 111 destinations, according to Taiwan’s Tourism Administration.Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, Thailand, Guam, Indonesia, and 10 of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies are among this year’s exhibitors, and the agency’s Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said he believes the 38th edition of the fair will elevate Taiwan’s exposure to international travelers.Chou added that following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tourism Administration has been targeting sustainable development and digitization to promote Taiwan as a tourism destination.Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏), chairwoman of the Taiwan Visitors Association (TVA), said that this year’s expo will also prove that the ITF is now on par with other international fairs such as the world’s largest tourism trade show, the Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB Berlin).Chien praise Taiwan’s current tourism achievements such as being awarded the “Best LGBTQ Trend Destination” by the Spartacus International Gay Guide, and ranking third among non-Organization of Islamic Cooperation (non-OIC) destinations in the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI).Addressing the fair’s opening ceremony, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) shone a spotlight on the attendance of high-ranking tourism officials from visiting countries such as Paraguay, Guatemala and Japan.He said his administration hopes to further the progress of Taiwan through tourism, imploring local municipalities to work with the central government to improve amenities for international and domestic travelers.Lai added that just this week, the Tourism Administration launched the “Taiwan Tourism 100 Spotlights” initiative with the assistance of 22 municipalities to package Taiwan to international and domestic tourists.Lai noted that the Tourism Administration’s new slogan, “Taiwan – Waves of Wonder,” is now being promoted across the globe.
(By Wen Kuei-hsiang, Wang Shu-fen and James Lo)
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