Music, like travel, broadens the mind, opening new horizons and offering new perspectives.
Amadeus Travel Trends 2024 finds many are also looking to combine the two this year, with a boom in concert and festival attendance in 2023 tapping into a desire for connection.
As we enter 2024, the trend is expected to accelerate, with many European travellers planning to follow their favourite acts on tour.
A new research project, carried out by YouGov for Amadeus across four European markets, finds some 49 per cent of Spaniards have previously travelled to attend a concert or festival (spending at least one night away from home), along with 48 per cent of Brits, 44 per cent of Germans and 34 per cent of French travellers.
Interestingly, German music fans were, however, the most adventurous when it comes to international travel, with 18 per cent headed abroad for a show, compared to 11 per cent of Spanish travellers, nine per cent of those from Britain and just seven per cent of French travellers.
When it comes to how much a traveller would spend, British travellers were the most frugal.
Some 58 per cent of British music fans who had previously embarked on a trip to see a concert or festival would look to spend less than £300 in the future (not including the cost of the event ticket), compared to just 40 per cent of both French and Spanish travellers, and 39 per cent of Germans.
In contrast, 15 per cent of German and 13 per cent of Spanish and French music fans who had previously travelled for a live music event would be willing to spend over €600 to do so again, compared to only nine per cent of Brits.
Daniel Batchelor, vice president, global corporate marketing & communications at Amadeus, said: “A prerequisite to building a better travel experience is understanding the minds of travellers. That is why we promote Traveller First thinking throughout the industry. Consumer research shows that this year travellers 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? With artists including Taylor Swift and Coldplay performing in 2024, we are seeing strong demand across Europe for travel, both domestic and international with music fans planning to enjoy a range of performances across the continent.”
When it comes to making the most of a trip, Spaniards were the keenest to explore the destination when travelling to see a live artist, with 79 per cent planning to do so.
This compared to 67 per cent of French travellers, 64 per cent of British travellers and 58 per cent of Germans.
Similarly, 43 per cent of all Spanish travellers questioned said they would travel to a musical event with friends, compared to 38 per cent of French travellers, 37 per cent of Brits and 32 per cent of Germans.
Additionally, Amadeus’ own flight search data provides further evidence of intent to travel around key music events.
For Taylor Swift’s Eras tour in 2024, the data shows:
International searches for trips to Paris, France, for seven or more days coinciding with the dates of the concerts increased by 21 per cent.
Countries with a noticeable increase in flight searches to Paris coinciding with the Taylor Swift concert dates were Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, and the USA.
Trips of seven or more days proved most popular with international visitors to Madrid. Flight search volumes for a trip of this duration increased by an average of 23 per cent. While domestic travellers in Spain favoured shorter trips, which rose by 18 per cent over the same period.
Between the announcement of UK tour dates and the opening of ticket sales, domestic flight searches for various durations covering the concert dates increased by 80 per cent.
All figures are based on average week-on-week flight search comparisons in 2023.
More Information – Methodology
YouGov survey results were based on a proprietary panel, composed of 6,299 travellers from four markets – France, United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain – in November 2023.
Origin of flight search data – these data points are based on research by Amadeus data science teams. Data is drawn from a custom search dataset, Amadeus Master Pricer, and Amadeus Agency Insights.
