Sellout events like Glastonbury Festival and mega-grossing stadium shows by Beyoncé , Harry Styles and Blur helped lift the U.K. live music industry to record heights last year, generating 8 billion pounds ($10.
3 billion) for the country’s economy, according to new figures published Tuesday (July 23). Umbrella trade organization UK Music reports that 19.2 million “music tourists” attended live concerts and festivals in the United Kingdom in 2023, up 33% on the previous year.
The trade body defines a “music tourist” as someone who has traveled at least three times the average commuting distance for their region or is based overseas. The £8 billion financial windfall these music tourists contributed to the local economy through direct spending on things like gig tickets, travel, accommodation and food and beverage sales, as well as indirect spending on supply chain businesses such as security and fencing, represents an increase of 21% on 2022’s 6.6 billion pound total.
The 2023 figure is the highest ever recorded by UK Music since the organization started analyzing music tourism spending a decade ago. That’s despite the number of foreign concertgoers falling fractionally to just over 1 million last year, down from 1.053 million in 2022.
However, the total number of domestic music tourists grew 36% year-on-year to 18.2 million, said UK Music, while 62,000 jobs were sustained by live gigs. On a regional basis, London was the United Kingdom’s most popular destin.