Ye's Haikou concert nets US$53m in tourism, family spotted by fans and goes viral
"I love you, Haikou!" the American rapper Ye formerly known as Kanye West cried out to the audience as he started his live show at the Wuyuanhe Stadium in the capital of China's island province of Hainan on September 15.
All 42,000 tickets to the concert sold out in just minutes. In addition, statistics from the Haikou Tourism and Cultural Bureau showed the concert brought in approximately 51 million yuan (US$7.2 million) in ticket sales and boosted Haikou's tourism revenue to 373 million yuan.
Just days before the concert, Haikou was ravaged by Typhoon Yagi, the strongest typhoon to hit the island in 75 years.
On the day of the performance, the city's hotel occupancy rate surged to nearly 90 percent, a 1.5-fold increase.
Sixteen years after his last performance in China, the 24-time Grammy Award-winning rapper returned with a three-hour "listening party" for his new "Vultures" studio album.
Wearing a hoodie emblazoned with the Chinese characters "告诉过你" ("told you"), Ye's sincerity was on full display as he performed.
Ye's Haikou concert generates about 51 million yuan in ticket sales.
Ye brought his wife Bianca Censori and his four children to Haikou. The children, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm, joined their father on stage during a performance.
The family has been spotted by many excited admirers on the streets of Haikou, and their daily activities have been widely documented on Chinese social media.
Photos of them shopping at Miniso, a popular Chinese discount chain known for its affordable goods, were shared online. Some users even posted a receipt allegedly belonging to Ye's family, sparking surprise within the online community. Many were surprised to see billionaire Ye enjoying spicy tofu and buying a 9.9 yuan hairpin for his daughter.
Fans spot Ye and his family shopping at Chinese retailer Miniso after his Haikou concert.
All 42,000 tickets are sold out within minutes, leaving 230,000 fans on a waiting list.
The 2024 Haikou concert marked Ye's return to China after many years. In 1987, Ye's mother, Donda West, participated in the Fulbright program, teaching at Nanjing University. Ten-year-old Ye accompanied her and attended elementary school in Nanjing as the only foreign student.
Before his Haikou show, Ye shared on his social media account a childhood photo of himself in Nanjing, with the caption: "BACK."
Ye posts a photograph of him in Nanjing on social media when he was a child.
The Guardian called it an unexpected move: "Instead of opting for major cities, he chose the Chinese resort destination Hainan, which is surprising."
Haikou's Tourism and Cultural Bureau said that introducing popular, cutting-edge performances by international stars is part of a long-term strategy to boost high-quality tourism.
"It can effectively attract international tourists and promote the diversified development of the tourism industry," read one post on the Haikou government website.
Ye at his concert with a shirt saying "Told You" in Chinese.
Ye's show was not just a grand performance by a world-class music icon, it was also a reflection of the public's desire to connect with global pop culture and a deep enthusiasm for openness, Chinese tech media TMTPost reported.
To meet the huge demand, Ye is scheduled to hold an additional concert in Haikou on September 21, the city's authorities have announced.
Ye announces on Thursday on his Instagram he will have another concert in Haikou on September 28, 2024.
On the same day as Ye's Haikou concert, American singer Mariah Carey performed in Beijing. While first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have no shortage of such sales-driven events, smaller cities are eager to also brand themselves as entertainment capitals.
Mariah Carey posts a picture of herself on the Great Wall in Beijing when she was there for concerts.
According to the 2024 China Concert Report, in the first half of 2024, 1,182 concerts were held nationwide, with 874 in venues that seated over 3,000 people — a 330.5 percent increase from the first half of 2023. Concert revenue in the first half of 2024 reached 101.4 billion yuan, an 83.7 billion yuan jump from the same period a year earlier.
