Concert tours are predicted to increasingly become the focus of vacations in 2024
Gigs and a holiday? Sounds good to us.
Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour and now Madonna’s Celebration tour have had fans feverishly seeking out tickets to see their idols and research shows they are willing to travel further afield to witness the spectacle. Now with global tours from the likes of Coldplay, Metallica, Olivia Rodrigo and Foo Fighters in the pipeline for 2024 demand for tickets will be even higher.
In the Expedia Group’s Unpacked ’24 travel trends report, they predict these tours are not only driving ticket sales, but also tourism. Based on the company’s first-party travel data, plus a global consumer survey of 20,000 travellers they revealed that nearly 70 per cent of survey respondents say they are more likely to travel to a concert outside their own town, with over 40 per cent saying they’d travel for a concert as an excuse to visit a new place.
They also found that 30 per cent of those surveyed would travel outside of their home city for a concert because tickets were cheaper elsewhere. For example, floor section tickets for Olivia Rodrigo’s Birmingham show are currently priced at £247, whereas in Lisbon an equivalent ticket is only £138.
Other predicted travel trends include the “Vibe Check-In” after Hotel.com found that guest reviews mentioning the word ‘vibe’ have increased an average of 1,090 per cent year on year. Popular vibes included retro, chill and party, while some more unusual vibes discovered were Florida, tacky and Graceland.
With the number of those living a low or alcohol-free lifestyle on the rise, they also found that ‘Dry Tripping’ is another trend for next year. More than 40 per cent of those surveyed say they are likely to book a detox trip in 2024 and half were interested in staying at hotels that offer alcohol-free beverages.
One of the biggest surprises in the report is sporting events were the top reason travellers said they’d be likely to reduce their alcohol intake.
Unsurprisingly, ‘Set-jetting’, is going to continue in 2024 with more than half of travellers admitting they’ve researched or booked a trip based on the location where of a popular television or film was set.
Based off Expedia’s and sister company’s Hotels.com and Vrbo data, the first two seasons of The White Lotus increased travel demand for Hawaii and Sicily by 300 per cent. The release of Netflix’s Wednesday saw a 150 per cent increase in travel searches for Romania, searches for Norway rose by more than 65 per cent after Succession featured it in its final series and The Bear brought about a 45 per cent in searches for Chicago.
Predictions for popular set-jetting next year include Malta inspired by the second Gladiator film, Korea for Squid Game’s second season and Australia for the Mad Max prequel Furiosa.