Live Nation Says Concert Fans Take 38% More Trips Than Other Travelers

Live music fans are traveling more frequently than other consumers, and spending most of their trip budgets somewhere other than the concert itself,  according to new research released by Live Nation.

The concert giant said fans who attended live music during the past year took 38% more trips than other travelers, while nearly seven in 10 respondents said they plan travel around tour dates or festival lineups.

Perhaps more significant for the broader live-entertainment business, Live Nation found that only about 40% of fans’ live-music travel budgets go toward the event itself. The remaining 60% is spent on hotels, airfare, food, ground transportation and other parts of the trip.

The findings offer another data point showing how major tours and festivals increasingly function as travel drivers rather than simply local entertainment events.

Live Nation surveyed 3,300 respondents across 13 countries for the study, defining a live music fan as someone who attended a concert or festival during the previous 12 months. The research included both fans and general-population respondents for comparison.

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Among those fans, 78% said the artist or lineup mattered more than the destination when deciding where to travel for live music, according to Live Nation. Another 87% said they stay more than one night when traveling for a show or festival.

Three-quarters also said they had returned to a destination after first visiting it for live music, suggesting concerts can create tourism effects that extend beyond a single event weekend.

Earlier this year, Allianz Partners USA reported that 38% of Americans planning summer travel said a ticketed event was the primary purpose of at least one trip, with event-driven travel particularly common among younger consumers.

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Live Nation has also pursued partnerships that connect concert attendance more directly with travel spending. Last year, the company partnered with Trip.com Group in Asia on packages incorporating concerts, hotels, flights and local experiences. 

The new study also highlights an area where the concert-travel experience remains fragmented. Live Nation said 71% of surveyed fans reported difficulty finding accommodations near venues, while substantial numbers indicated they would switch airlines, hotels or booking platforms for services that made concert travel easier.

That finding helps explain why Live Nation’s research is relevant beyond ticket sales. The company’s media and sponsorship operation has increasingly pitched live events as a gateway to spending across travel, hospitality, payments and consumer brands.

“Live music puts places on people’s maps,” Russell Wallach, Live Nation’s global president of media and sponsorship, said. “A fan may arrive for one artist and leave with a new favorite city. One show can inspire an entire trip and create a reason to return for years.”