Report: Concerts & Festivals Are Tourism Drawcards For Aussies

Australians are travelling more for events, and concerts and festivals are a strong tourism drawcard.

The 2025 Changing Traveller Report by hotel revenue platform SiteMinder found that 65 per cent are more likely to do so in 2025 than they did this year. 

Not surprisingly, Gen Z (aged 18 to 27) is spearheading the movement, with the figure rising to 83 per cent.

Up to 26 per cent of Aussies are hitting the road for a concert or festival. That ranks second behind family reunions at 31 per cent. Weddings entice 18 per cent and sports events 17 per cent.

Millennials (aged 28 to 43) are almost as keen to be road warriors with a 77 per cent ranking. But, it drops considerably with Gen Z (44 to 59) at 59 per cent, Baby Boomers (60 to 78) at 37 per cent, and Radio Babies (79 to 96) at 25 per cent.

Among those who will travel for a concert or music festival, three-fifths (60 per cent) will book their accommodation immediately or within a week of buying their tickets.

The 2025 Changing Traveller Report –conducted in August by Kantor of 12,000 travellers from 14 countries – also notes that Australian tourists are the most likely to travel solo next year, including 24 per cent of Gen Z. 

This latter age group marks the growing rise of a new traveller called the “everything traveller” with a multifaceted blend of trending and traditional plans. A high 78% of Gen Zers will pay more for eco-friendly accommodation.

SiteMinder Regional Vice President of Asia Pacific, Bradley Haines, remarked, “The strong return of events and, in particular, record-setting concerts is offering a boost to the global hotel industry and to local economies.

“It’s clear that fans are not only happy to travel for their favourite bands; they are also planning well ahead and willing to spend a premium for the experience.

SiteMinder’s findings are backed up by an April 2024 report from AAA Travel and Bread Financial, which discovered that younger concert & festival tourists are travelling further and spending more than earlier age groups.

Up to 54 per cent of Gen Z respondents admitted that FOMO (fear of missing out) was a major reason.

Approximately three in five US Gen Z (65 per cent) and Millennial (58 per cent) respondents will travel to events that are more than 50 miles from home. This compares to 43 per cent of Gen X and just 27 per cent of Baby Boomers.

Gen Zers are most likely (53 per cent) to travel by plane. Up to 18 per cent will fly up to 1,500 miles. In comparison, only 9 per cent of Baby Boomers would travel as far for a show.

They’ll spend more to have a good experience. Nearly two in five (37 per cent of Gen Z and 39 per cent of Millennial) have spent between $500 and $5,000+ on travel tickets alone. 

About two in five Millennial (42 per cent) and Gen Z (37 per cent) will dip into their savings. Or they will take on an extra job, according to 33 per cent of Millennials. Half of these would fly overseas if it meant they could score cheaper concert tix.

Coldplay

The recent Australian and New Zealand Coldplay shows were a prime example of fans’ willingness to travel and pay more.

According to Flight Centre, flight and hotel bookings to Melbourne were up 8 per cent from the same week in 2023 and jumped 36 per cent to Sydney. When the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission quizzed Qantas about why prices had doubled after the demise of the Rex and Bonza airlines, Qantas attributed the Brit act’s shows to high demand.

In New Zealand, there was a rush from around the country when Coldplay played Auckland’s 50,000-seat Eden Park on November 13, 15 and 16. Bookings on domestic flights to Auckland from November 12 to 16 were up 87 per cent compared to the same week 2023, said Webjet.

They were quite happy to pay, as one airline boosted NZ$99 prices to $336 from Wellington to Auckland. Auckland hotel bookings surged 125%.

Impatient New Zealanders had decided to go to Australia and catch their shows there. There was a 47% spike in flight bookings to Melbourne and 44% to Sydney during that time. Hotel bookings in Sydney were up by 125 per cent with cost of rooms moving up 30 per cent.

Webjet Group CEO Katrina Barry said: “We saw this trend take off with Taylor Swift’s tour earlier this year, and it’s clear it’s only gaining steam. As concerts increasingly become gateways to explore domestic hotspots, we’re excited to see ‘tour tourism’ build even more momentum into 2025 and beyond.”

When Taylor Swift played two Australian cities this year, budget airline Jetstar chief executive Stephanie Tully revealed, “This has been our biggest ever February. We’ve seen around 30 per cent more travellers into Melbourne and Sydney than this time last year.”

Almost nine out of 10 hotel rooms in Melbourne were booked over the weekend as visitors came from across Victoria, interstate and international, including a large contingent from New Zealand.

Of the estimated 620,000 fans who went to the shows in Melbourne, each spent $900 on “tickets, accommodation, travel, merchandise and dining”, said Angel Zhong, an Associate Professor of Finance at RMIT University.

Of the 2 per cent who came from abroad, another $3 million was spent as they travelled around Victoria.

Kylie Minogue’s eight-city UK tour from next May have also seen her UK and European fans shelling out to catch the shows, with 70 per cent of the tour quickly selling out.

Hotel bookings have risen by 727.8 per cent in London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcastle, Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield, with average daily room rates up showing a 10 per cent jump.

Government Tourism

As reported last year in TheMusic.com.au, State Governments have been working with the music industry to tap into the youth market.

When Western Australia brought Coldplay in last year for two giant shows Perth (paying them $8 million for an economic boost of $43 million) the shows were also marketed to fans in South East Asia and New Zealand with tourism packages to extend their stays to see the rest of the state.

Similarly, the Northern Territory Government-run BASSINTHEGRASS festival in Darwin has been a boost for the Territory’s economy, bringing in $14.5 million. Half the 16,000 who attend are from the rest of Australia and from abroad, so the Government entices them to stay longer with tourist packages as wildlife adventures, jumping crocodile cruises and national parks.

When Visit Victoria worked with Frontier Touring to come for a one-off Aussie show at Melbourne’s Cricket Ground, 42 per cent of the 76,300 crowd were from outside the state. Hotel occupancy peaked at 93.7% on the night, and it was estimated the state benefitted by $30 million.

Tribal Gatherings

Some of the long-time tribal gatherings, which have long been picking up tourism awards and with a reputation for music discovery, have long attracted crowds that travelled.

About 47 per cent of Bluesfest’s crowd – 60 per cent which is aged 35 and over, and 57 per cent which is female – journey from outside NSW. Around 2 per cent are from overseas.

Bluesfest Byron Bay’s Chairman Peter Noble has worked out that his event has in the last ten years, brought in $1.1 billion worth of tourism into NSW. Noble said, “These are remarkable figures, and [by] which alone should have the NSW Government supporting us.”

Queensland’s free country music Groundwater gets 68 per cent of its crowd from outside the region. Festival GM Mark Duckworth attributes its rapid success to how it attracts both “the 35-55 folk/blues festival crowds … and a new interest with younger crowds”.

The Tamworth Country Music Festival General Manager Barry Harley estimates that of the aggregated 300,000 attendance over ten days, one-third were from the Tamworth region, one-third from the rest of NSW (especially Sydney and the Hunter Valley), 33 per cent from the rest of the country, and 2 per cent from abroad mostly from New Zealand and the US.

It has generated $50 million in tourism benefits over the years.

New Audience

The changing face of festivals could be one reason why fans are connecting more.

Promoters of Ultra, Laneway and Knotfest tell TheMusic.com.au they’re seeing “a new kind of audience”. Some report more international fans visiting as they book exclusive A1 genre superstars, or have such a trust in the promoters’ curating skills they want to check out the latest new acts on offer.

Untitled Group, which sold 250,000 tickets over summer, attributes its growth to the fact it allows its crowd to take a role in curating. According to co-founder Michael Christidis, “We can build the best stages and book the best artists, but ultimately it’s about audience participation.”

As a result he says, their multi-city festivals like Wildlands each show has its own persona and pop culture – from the food on offer, the dominant genre, to even length of running time.

Ultimately it goes back to a takeaway from Bolster & Tixel state-of-the-audience Front Row Centre 2024 report – that a high 56 per cent of fans across all ages agree that live music events are a priority expense.