Music tourism in Europe - statistics & facts
All standard tickets for the 2024 Glastonbury Festival sold out in less than an hour. This shows the power of music events to attract huge crowds. People are increasingly willing to visit another city, or even another country, to see their favorite artists play live, taking that as an opportunity to explore a new destination. This trend, also explored in a Statista webinar on music tourism in Europe, is part of a growing emphasis on experiential travel, as major European tourist markets recorded a rise in inbound tourism spending on experiences after the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the rich offer of European festivals and the tours of popular artists like Taylor Swift in Europe in 2024, it is clear why music tourism has been hailed as one of the main travel trends for the region.
Overall, be it for a festival, an indoor gig, or an arena show, traveling to attend a music event is a trend that the tourism market has started to follow closely, as it can have a positive effect on a wide range of industries. A 2023 study on the economic contribution of music tourism in the UK estimated a staggering 6.6 billion British pounds in total spending generated by music tourists. This figure also considered the expenditure on food and drinks, accommodation, and travel, aside from that on ticket sales or merchandise. In this respect, with its impact ranging from hospitality and transportation to destination marketing and visitor attractions, it would be no surprise if music tourism were to become one of the headline acts of the travel and tourism sector.
Who is traveling to attend music events in Europe?
According to a 2024 study on the main travel purposes of Europeans, a higher share of respondents intended to make a trip within the region to attend events like festivals or sports tournaments than for work-related purposes. When focusing on music events, in a late-2023 survey of Europeans who traveled to attend a concert or festival, either domestically or in another country, Spain and the United Kingdom had the highest share of music tourists. This scenario, however, changed when looking only at Europeans who traveled abroad to take part in a music event. In that case, Germany ranked at the top, with twice as many Germans as Britons reporting having made an outbound trip for that reason.What are the biggest European markets for live music events?
Based on Statista Market Insights’ estimates, the music event industry in Europe generated nearly 9.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. That year, the United Kingdom and Germany represented by far the largest markets, together accounting for nearly 40 percent of European music event revenue. Attendance figures of music festivals in Europe show that there is no lack of popular music events across the whole region, with the Amsterdam Dance Event in the Netherlands, the Sziget Festival in Hungary, and Tomorrowland in Belgium attracting the most visitors.Overall, be it for a festival, an indoor gig, or an arena show, traveling to attend a music event is a trend that the tourism market has started to follow closely, as it can have a positive effect on a wide range of industries. A 2023 study on the economic contribution of music tourism in the UK estimated a staggering 6.6 billion British pounds in total spending generated by music tourists. This figure also considered the expenditure on food and drinks, accommodation, and travel, aside from that on ticket sales or merchandise. In this respect, with its impact ranging from hospitality and transportation to destination marketing and visitor attractions, it would be no surprise if music tourism were to become one of the headline acts of the travel and tourism sector.
