PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (WHTM) — Fans flocked to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on July 12 to see the U.S. debut of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, but the superstar had a bigger impact on the city than first met the eye.
In addition to drawing thousands of concert-goers to the venue, Beyoncé’s performance also boosted several local businesses, according to Yelp economic data.
In a study of Yelp search trends from the week before the concert, the company found notable increases in searches for hotels, shopping, and beauty services when compared to the weekly average of the past year.
In searches, hotels and travel saw a 21% increase, shopping saw a 10% increase, and beauty services saw a 9% increase.
Some of the largest increases came in the beauty services category with a 193% increase in searches for nail technicians and a 73% increase in searches for hairstylists compared to the weekly average of the past year.
Restaurants also saw a boost during this period with 30% more diners seated via Yelp on the concert date than on July 5.
In addition to boosts in certain industries, Yelp also found significant increases in consumer interest for diverse businesses including Black-owned, women-owned, and LGBTQ+-owned shops during the week before the show.
Yelp defines consumer interest by analyzing the actions users take to connect with businesses on Yelp. These actions include viewing and searching business pages, posting photos, business reviews, and more.
For Black-owned businesses, the beauty and food categories saw 14% and 4% increases in consumer interest respectively.
Women-owned businesses saw a 21% increase in consumer interest in shopping and a 14% increase in consumer interest in beauty.
LGBTQ+-owned businesses also saw a 194% increase in consumer interest in shopping.
Other notable increases in the week of the concert included a 69% increase in searches for town car services and a 23% increase in searches for limousines.
On the night of the concert late-night restaurants and nightlife businesses also saw a rise in searches.
Yelp’s Methodology
“Consumer Searches
Yelp identified trends within consumer searches by comparing the number of total searches from July 6 – July 12, 2023, vs. the weekly average of total searches in the previous year (July 2023 to July 2022) in Philadelphia, PA. “Searches” were based on consumer search queries and queries when they clicked on a suggested category.
Diners Seated via Yelp
Diners Seated via Yelp includes diners seated via the Yelp app, Yelp on the web, or widgets on restaurant websites, it excludes diners seated via walk-in diners, phone calls, and other host ads. Changes in reservations and waitlist were measured by comparing Diners Seated in Philadelphia on July 5 vs. July 12.
Consumer Interest
Yelp measures consumer interest by looking at select actions users take in connection with businesses on Yelp: such as viewing business pages, or posting photos or reviews. In this report, Yelp analyzed changes in consumer interest for businesses with a Black, LGBTQ+, or Women-owned attribute by comparing consumer interest from July 6 – July 12, 2023, vs. the weekly average of consumer interest in the previous year in Philadelphia, focusing on each category’s share of all consumer actions in its root category or child category.
Identity Attributes on Yelp
Business owners can select identity attributes to display on their business page by logging into their Yelp for Business account. This includes self-identifying as Asian-owned, Black-owned, Latinx-owned, LGBTQ-owned, veteran-owned, or women-owned, as well as our Open to All attribute, which allows businesses to identify as a safe and welcoming place to everyone—regardless of ethnicity, race, sex, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Users can find these businesses when searching by these attributes. These business attributes are opt-in only and can only be added by the business.”
