From Coldplay to Bryan Adams: the concerts driving India’s travel itinerary

Skift Take

The demand for international music events among Indian travelers is not only driving outbound travel but also boosting the domestic music tourism industry.

Bulbul Dhawan

When Canadian singer Bryan Adams’ concert in Mumbai was announced in August, tickets sold out within 24 hours. Two weeks later, more than 80% of tickets had been sold at most venues, with a total of 75,000 tickets sold for the six-city December tour.

This is Adams’ sixth visit to India and his popularity is growing. Social media platforms are flooded with comments from fans from other cities who are planning to travel to Mumbai or Gurgaon to see the “Summer of ’69” singer. They come from all over, be it Ranchi or interior parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Artists such as Coldplay, Jonas Brothers and Sting have performed in India. Coldplay will also be back next year.

Indian online travel agency Ixigo saw a 350% increase in flight bookings for Coldplay’s Mumbai concerts in January. Prices for hotels near the D.Ya stadium. Patila grew up during the concert days, Skift previously reported.

Indian singer Diljit Dosanjh is making as much noise as Coldplay. His concert in Jaipur last Sunday saw a surge in flight bookings and hotel occupancy, according to online travel agency EaseMyTrip. Ixigo said there has been a 300% increase in bookings for air tickets for Dosanjh’s upcoming show in Chandigarh on December 14.

“The passion for live performances is driving fans to travel and this surge in bookings for flights, trains and buses shows that music tourism is becoming an important force in the country,” said Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO, Ixigo.

Indians are also not above traveling abroad if it means seeing their favorite musicians perform. Megastar Taylor Swift has yet to play a concert in India, but visa processing platform Atlys reported last month that the Swift Eras Tour alone led to a 20 percent increase in Indian visa applications.

Music tourists leading the splash

These concerts encourage domestic travel.

Tickets for Lollapalooza India 2025 went on sale on entertainment platform BookMyShow on Tuesday, September 10, and general admission tickets for the weekend were sold out by Thursday evening. The festival will mark the Indian debut of Green Day and former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson.

“I’m a huge Green Day fan and have booked tickets to see them play in South Africa next January. But then I found out that they were coming to India next year for Lollapalooza, so I canceled the whole thing because this way I would only have to travel from Mohali to Mumbai. I wouldn’t mind going to South Africa, but this way I can save some money and still see Green Day,” said Vikas, a 34-year-old fan.

A Louis Tomlinson fan group called “Louis India”, recognized as Tomlinson’s official team and label in South Asia and in contact with them, raised funds to help fans who could not afford to buy tickets themselves. The band told Skift they estimate more than 1,000 Tomlinson fans are traveling to Mumbai to support his India debut.

A report According to online travel aggregator Skyscanner, young Indian travelers start planning their trips as soon as they find a job or receive their first paycheck.

“I have been a fan of One Direction and Louis since 2012 and seeing him in India is a dream come true. If this had been a couple of years ago, I probably wouldn’t have been able to go since I was still in college. But now I am traveling from Agra to see it with my own money,” said Shivani Singh, who started working last year and immediately started saving money to be able to travel.

It’s a repeat of the enthusiasm that surrounded British singer Ed Sheeran’s Mathematics tour in March and Indian music festival Lollapalooza in January.

Owen Roncon, head of live events at BookMyShow, told Skift that in 2023, more than 410,000 people traveled to other cities to attend live entertainment events. “Of the total Lollapalooza 2024 participants, 34% traveled from other cities in India to attend the event,” Roncon said. For the Ed Sheeran Show, this figure was 40%.

Travel players are entering into collaborations to tap into this growing segment. Low cost airline IndiGo in partnership with BookMyShow will offer discounted airfares to people traveling outside their cities to attend Bandland 2024 and Lollapalooza India 2025. As part of this campaign, participants of these two events are eligible for up to 20% discount on IndiGo flights after completing the transaction. on BookMyShow.

Potential of Music Tourism in India

Research In the Asia-Pacific region, India is emerging as a key player in the music tourism segment, which is expected to grow faster than China and Japan, according to research firm Future Markets Insights.

The firm expects music tourism in India to grow at an annual rate of 19% between 2024 and 2034. China’s estimated growth is 14.4%; in Japan it is 13.8%. The US music tourism market is likely to grow 5.7% annually over the decade.

“India hosts around 25 top music and food festivals every year, attracting around 1.5 million visitors from all over the world. Music tourism has become the norm and this trend reflects the growing inclination of youth and travelers, boosting the overall tourism industry in India,” the company said.