ABBA Voyage has been a huge hit, with audiences, with many returning to see it multiple times. Between May 2022 and May 2023 more than 1 million seats were sold, with 20% of attendees travelling to the UK for the experience.
The producers are proud to be able to say that the show, which runs daily in a purpose-built 3,000 seat arena in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, particularly boosted the incomes of businesses in the surrounding area. £131.1 million of the £322.6 million generated in the first twelve months was spent in the local boroughs of Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest.
“The presence of ABBA Voyage is felt in a way that will be enduring. Knowing that in our first full year, the operations of ABBA Voyage has had an economic impact in London of £322 million is extraordinary, and our challenge will be to maintain and grow this number, and to ensure that its effects are long lasting.”
Michael Bolingbroke, CEO, ABBA Voyage
On top of the ticket prices, attendees on average spent an additional £103. The show’s presence in East London has also resulted in the employment for an estimated 5,075 people including venue staff, and restaurant and hotel workers.
“It was imperative to us and to ABBA, that ABBA Voyage would leave a positive impact on our local community in Stratford and the findings of this report have only surpassed what we could have hoped for.
We are proud residents of East London and to be able to employ locally, and enhance the local economy is as joyful to us as the concert itself. We fully intend to continue to evolve our education scheme to provide access and opportunities to young people in our area, and hopefully inspire them to choose the creative sector for their future employment.”
Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson, Producers, ABBA Voyage
The report was compiled by Sound Diplomacy and RealWorth. Their research suggests that £73.7 million in Gross Value Added was injected East London’s economy alone, through food and drink consumption, transport, shopping, accommodation, and entertainment.
Source: Romford Recorder
Main image Johan Person, ℅ CNBC
ABBA Voyage venue image ℅ RICS
ABBA group image ℅ IMDb