Music tourists who flock to gigs and festivals bring in £2.2bn

Music tourism is supporting at least 24,000 jobs each year, a report from VisitBritain showed.

Direct spending by UK and overseas music tourists, including buying tickets and paying for transport and accommodation, was worth £1.3bn last year.

Further indirect spending added a further £914m.

VisitBritain said the average live music audience was comprised of 41 per cent music tourists, with these tourists from overseas spending, on average, £910 while attending festivals and £602 while attending concerts.

Domestic music tourists spent, on average, £396 while attending festivals and £87 while attending concerts. The report also said that overseas tourists accounted for 6 per cent of music tourism visits but a huge 20 per cent of music tourism spending, with London attracting 28 per cent of all music tourists to the UK, with 1.8 million visiting the capital.

VisitBritain chief executive Sandie Dawe said: “This report confirms that the UK’s music scene has significant international appeal and that music tourists spend lots of money and travel across the whole of Britain. This will act as a catalyst for us all to ramp up our activity and forge better relationships with festival organisers, promoters, venues and producers across the world.”

Jo Dipple, chief executive of industry body UK Music – which helped prepare the report – said: “It’s clear our music industry is doing a great job for the British economy, encouraging 6.5 million tourists. Just think what we might achieve with policies that specifically target the music tourist in this country and abroad.”