India and Maldives are connecting over tourism via Manta Air’s direct flight from Bengaluru to Dhaalu
A growing number of music lovers are travelling to other parts of the country, and the world, to see their favourite musicians perform. We explore the rise of gig tripping.
says that she noticed how her flight was packed with people who were also attending the concert. “I could hear loud conversations about songs, seat choices, and how to get to the venue,” she recalls. The destination cities transform to welcome performing artistes and fans. Last year, Atasi says she visited Bangkok to see Agust D’s (BTS member Suga) DDAY concert, and made a trip to the Philippines this year to see Kpop group Seventeen’s FOLLOW to Bulacan concert. “In the past, we have had customers wanting to travel to the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium, or even catch Guns and Roses perform in Abu Dhabi. In the last year however, the magnitude of this trend has seen some solid growth with many Gen Z and millennial music lovers opting to travel,” says
Neeraj Singh Dev, executive vice president, ecommerce and short haul holidays, Thomas Cook.
From EMI options to discounts on reservations in bulk, there are several plans catered towards making these trips more affordable. From as low as an EMI of ₹4,000 per month, one can book a trip to
Thailand, Neeraj says. “This is easily possible now, and younger customers in particular who are used to buying phones online on instalments, are keen to take up a similar approach for travel as well,” he says.
So what can such travellers keep in mind? Neeraj recommends that if they travel as a group of 10 or more, they stand a chance to get better rates on accommodation when booked through a service like theirs.
A lot of this travel, both within India and to places nearby, has seen a marked increase post the pandemic. A host of Indian and international acts have toured the country in the last two years, including Post Malone, Backstreet Boys, and Westlife.
More people are also making a beeline for a host of music festivals including Sunburn, VH1 Supersonic, and even the more niche ones like the Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival and Magnetic Fields.
“While the initial postpandemic fervour is settling, we’ve witnessed a remarkable 2x increase in ticket sales and a substantial 60% rise in total users compared to 2022. There is also a growing trend of concerts reaching tier2 and tier3 cities, breaking away from the conventional metrocentric model,” says Varun Khare, business head, Paytm Insider.
Owen Roncon, chief of Business, Live Entertainment, BookMyShow, says, “Fans are undoubtedly willing to travel far and wide to catch their favourite artistes live.”
The platform’s yearend report, Best of 2023 #EntertainmentOnASpree indicated that nearly 4.11 lakh people ventured outside of their home cities to catch live entertainment experiences. “Lollapalooza India 2024 had nearly 34% of its attendees travel from other Indian cities including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, DelhiNCR, Guwahati and Jaipur,” he adds. Forty percent of the attendees at Ed Sheeran’s
+ = ÷ x Tour in Mumbai will be coming in from other cities.
Earlier this year at Lollapalooza, singer Halsey, to loud cheers from the audience, announced that the second largest streaming numbers for her music came from India. Owen too says that India has been the second largest market when it comes to audio streaming numbers for many artistes globally. “The encouraging response across categories in India suggests that the demand for live entertainment is all set to continue on an upward trajectory,” he adds.
Going by the current trend, an ‘adventure of a lifetime’ at a concert of your choice might be just a fourhour flight away. Or, it could even be closer home.