Music tourism has seen significant growth in the last few years, particularly since the pandemic where live and in-person experiences were largely impossible for many travellers around the world.
This growing trend sits in conjunction with the rise in popularity of experiential tourism (link), one of the more notable shifts in traveller behaviours within the industry. Travellers are prioritising travel governed by both immersive and cultural events, activities and experiences to enrich their trips. What used to be a niche interest is now becoming a globally impactful tourism trend for this year and beyond.
Amadeus recently released evidence that music tourism is a key driver in local economies, with major global artists like Taylor Swift and Coldplay causing significant impact on search and booking volumes for destinations listed on their tour dates, with interest in flights increasing as much as 91% for Romania, and 62% for Athens, and Beyonce’s stop in Sweden as part of her Renaissance World Tour drew around 90,000 to Stockholm for this alone.
Daniel Batchelor, Vice President, Global Corporate Marketing & Communications at Amadeus, said:
“Consumer research shows that this year travelers are on the lookout for new experiences. And what better experience can there be than sharing a music festival or concert with friends, family or like-minded fans?”
What Are the Opportunities for Travel Agents?
In line with our focus on the growth of experiential tourism and our exploration of this as one of the key travel trends for 2024, music tourism aligns with the current behaviours of many global travellers in that they are actively seeking experiences which align not only with their beliefs and preferences, but also that immerse them in their destination of choice. These key elements are clearly seen in music tourism, offering memorable and at times highly niche experiences for all types of traveller.
In fact, Amadeus has also suggested that music tourism is one of the ‘key drivers of European tourism in 2024’, and so it stands to reason that this will continue to be a key driver of travel trends for years to come.
So then, the question remains: what about the opportunities for travel agents when it comes to music travel and tourism?
Insights
Our intuitive recommendation tool Insights is specifically designed for travel agents, to streamline your daily work load, while allowing you to keep up with current and future travel trends.
How? By using an internal algorithm to determine market-specific trends based on several key factors, including:
- Seasonality
- Historical search data
- Real-time customer bookings
- Historical booking data
This means Insights can provide recommendations based on customer bookings in your market, offering you destinations more likely to be booked by your ideal audience.
So, how is this relevant to travel trends, and therefore music tourism?
Well, Insights allows you to keep up with increasing demand in your market, and considering that some global artists cause significant shifts in demand for destinations (for tours, for example) this allows you to see spikes in destinations whenever they’re being booked by real-time customers, and by your competitors. This, combined with Insights’ data intelligence when it comes to the aforementioned factors, means that you’re able to react in real-time as demand spikes.
Discover more about Insights’ valuable tools with our quick guide to Insights here!
Travel Packages
There is clear demand for music-centric experiences from super fans and casual music lovers around the globe, and a clear opportunity for collaboration between travel providers, event organisers, and host destinations to curate unique and memorable (and most importantly enticing) bookable experiences as these sectors collide.
In a key example of this intersectional collaboration, organisers of Tomorrowland, one of Europe’s notable music festivals held just outside of Antwerp, Belgium, are offering global music-lovers the chance to book travel packages that allow them to explore Belgium before enjoying sets from some of the world’s best DJs performing at the festival itself.
Consider how you as a travel agent might be able to curate enticing packages that could boost your sales. Here are some key considerations, though, for capitalising on music events and experiences as extra revenue:
- Identify music travel experiences which align with our ideal market or customer. Sometimes, smaller and more ‘obscure’ events offer more opportunities than events on a grander scale.
- Keep your packages concise and focused, to avoid confusing travellers.
- Ensure that travellers have the flexibility to amend the travel dates to either arrive before, or stay on after the event or experience you’re curating their trip around.
- Navigate package prices carefully, as after all, the lead price is what gets you traffic and keeps people moving through the booking process.
And of course, when you’re curating packages, nothing makes this easier than a travel booking platform with integrated cross-selling and upselling functionalities, for comprehensive booking.
Our Booking Engine allows you to:
- Build itineraries for each customer whether they’re simple or complex.
- Offer add-ons at the time of booking (and after) to offer truly end-to-end travel plans.
- Provide flexible payment options to cater to a range of budgets.
- Choose from over 250,000 hotels and 23,000 experiences to build out the perfect, enriched trip no matter each client’s preferences.
Register your travel agency to start maximising every booking with this comprehensive travel booking platform.
What are the Key Drivers of Music Tourism?
Music Festivals - Arguably one of the longest-standing drivers of music tourism! Some music festivals drive millions of visitors, significantly impacting the local economy and global demand for travel services to, from and within these destinations.
Social Media Travel Marketing - The digital age has influenced the accessibility and growth of music tourism, from the shared experiences widely available on user feeds and explore pages, to recommended videos delivered to consumers via algorithms which can influence travel decisions, to the longstanding availability of user-generated content such as uploaded sets and performances to platforms like YouTube.
Unique Experiential Tourism - Much of music tourism relies on its unique nature; the atmosphere generated and experienced at festivals or concerts, often cannot be replicated by virtual or digital experiences in the same way. This creates a strong appeal to travellers who are specifically looking for immersive and memorable moments for their trips.
Personalisation Opportunities for Travel Sellers - There is a music and arts festival for every traveller preference, allowing for a greater degree of personalisation when it comes to creating your clients’ perfect musical itinerary.
The Emotional Synergy Between Music and Travel - Music and travel are both ultimately emotive and evocative experiences, and therefore it stands to reason that they go hand in hand. Music not only offers the chance for immersive events, but it also enhances the travelling itself, resulting in a unique and powerful type of tourism experience.
Whether a traveller is journeying to their local venue to see a small band, making their way across thousands of miles to experience their favourite artist in a stadium tour, or venturing to a festival to be amongst thousands of like-minded music lovers, there’s a music event that’s bound to get them in the groove.
And with music festivals as one of the main drivers of this type of travel, let’s look at just a handful of some of the different festivals out there, each of which draws its own type of traveller and experience-seeker.
Inspiration: A Selection of Popular Music Festivals for Different Traveller Types
Here are a handful of recommendations worth travelling for!
Europe
Hailed for its romantic cities and diverse cultures, Europe also plays host to some of the world’s most famous music festivals!
- For community-seekers – Glastonbury, UK; 2000 Trees, UK; Sziget, Budapest.
- For hard rockers – Download Festival, UK; Rock Im Park & Rock Am Ring, Germany.
- For world music – WOMAD, UK; Sziget, Budapest; Primavera Sound, Barcelona.
- For arts and culture - The Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland draws thousands of visitors, as one of the most popular arts and culture festivals in the world.
- For the biggest crowds – Tomorrowland, Belgium; Sonar, Barcelona; Lollapalooza, multiple cities!
North America & Canada
It’s no secret that events like Coachella in California and Lollapalooza in Chicago (and now worldwide) are just two of the annual festivals hosted in the United States that have made an indelible mark on the festival world. However, as much as these are renowned global events, there are plenty of must-attend festivals across the States that cater to every musical preference under the sun.
- For Blues & Jazz,- Since 1984, the Chicago Blues Festival has been the world's largest free blues festival; New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which spans 7 days!
- For Hip-hop, R&B – Friends and Lovers, Las Vegas; Rolling Loud, Miami; Something In The Water, VA.
- For Indigenous Culture – the Indigenous Music and Arts festival at Ganondagan; Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival in Ottawa.
- For the classics, world music -Festival d'été de Québec, VELD Music Festival, Canada.
- For relaxation - Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Tennessee.
Central and South America
- For celebrations of Latin music - Baja Beach Fest, Mexico; PAAX GNP Festival. Mexico, for classical musicians, ballet, opera, and dance performers.
- For a party - Empire Music Festival, Guatemala; Time Warp Festival, Brazil; Baum Festival, Colombia; Primavera Sound Festival Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Asia Pacific
What could be better than offering all-year music opportunities? Of course, while the season now is in line with the summer months as experienced by the Northern Hemisphere, there are a plethora of unmissable festivals in Asia Pacific destinations that should not be missed by travellers.
Australia
- For Australia’s biggest – Vivid Sydney; Splendour In The Grass.
- For community - Rainbow Spirit Festival; Byron Bay Blues Fest; Lost Paradise Festival.
- For a travelling festival – Laneway Festival (Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney).
- For First Nations culture – Parrtjima - A Festival in Light; Barunga Festival; Desert Mob.
South Korea
While C-pop and J-pop have been making waves in Western media for decades, the more recent skyrocketing popularity of K-pop is making South Korea turn musical heads no matter the continent!
- For world-class stage productions – Seoul, for a K-pop performance! The city hosts many solo and group performances from the industry's best acts.
- For immersive experiences – SMTown Live, with performances from world-renowned groups. The 2024 event went overseas to Tokyo!
- For showcase events – KCON; Weverse Con Festival; Seoul World DJ Festival, and Seoul Jazz Festival, which offer three days of performances from acclaimed artists to local indie acts.
Japan
- For international rock and electronic – Fuji Rock Festival (Japan’s biggest), Summer Sonic, and Ultra Japan.
- For showcase events - MBC Music Core in Japan; KCON Japan.
- For a good cause – Greenroom Festival, based on the ethos of ‘Save The Beach, Save The Ocean’
- For tradition – Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto; Hakata Dontaku Matsuri; Kyoto Gion Matsuri for incredible parades, traditional music and festivities that can last a whole month!
South Asia
- For awe-inspiring crowds – Sunburn Festival, Goa – Asia’s largest music festival, which attracts around 1 million music-lovers.
- For international and eclectic line ups – Creamfields, Taiwan; S2O Songkran Music Festival, Thailand; We The Fest, Indonesia; Clockenflap, Hong Kong.
- For a ship-shape festival - It’s The Ship, Asia’s largest festival at sea, which makes its way from Busan through Nagasaki, Japan and back to Busan.
- For unforgettable locations - Great Wall Festival, China. Techno on the Great Wall, it’s not to be missed!
Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list, but perhaps you've got an idea of just why music tourism is so valuable as a type of travel, and how you can start capitalising on this growing trend if you're not already doing so!
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