Concerts Help Drive Demand for Travel in 2023

Jim Wang scored tickets for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in Pittsburgh, which he paid $800 for. And since Swift’s concert at Acrisure Stadium was about a four-hour drive from his home in Fulton, Maryland, he'd need overnight accommodations, too.

Wang is just one of a growing group of people willing to travel to see a concert. TodayTix Group, an online ticketing platform for theatrical and cultural events, conducted an online survey in February 2023 of more than 4,000 Americans who had attended at least one live event over the past 12 months. 38% of respondents were willing to travel within their state, as Wang did. And 17% were willing to travel out of state.

When shows like The Eras Tour come to town, along with them comes a sudden — yet temporary — influx of travelers, and hotel rooms often sell out because of it. In Wang’s case, all the hotels in Pittsburgh were sold out, and he was lucky to find an Airbnb about a mile and a half away.

The story of concerts selling out hotel rooms is not unique. On the nights Swift performed in Cincinnati this summer, Red Roof occupancy was 86% across the hotel chain’s eight nearest properties, according to data provided to NerdWallet by Red Roof.

 It’s not just Swift. The Red Roof outpost in Arlington, Texas, saw 30% higher occupancy rates when Metallica performed in August 2023 versus the same weeknights in 2022. The company also said that music-related events such as Elvis Week, which was held in Memphis, Tennessee, in August, have been driving higher demand.

Many concertgoers are willing to travel so far that a plane flight is necessary. Expedia said it reported a 100% increase in searches for flights to Tampa during the week of Beyoncé's concert in August 2023 versus the week prior, and a 550% week-over-week increase in flights to San Francisco for her concert later that month.

As demand rises, so do ticket prices

That surge in demand is happening in tandem with a surge in ticket prices. Average prices for admission to movies, theaters and concerts in the U.S. increased 5.2% in August 2023 versus the same month in 2022.

Major travel brands are capitalizing on the concert craze, offering concert-related incentives to their customers that either thank them for their loyalty or encourage them to spend even more money (or perhaps both).

Chase Sapphire has had a robust presence at major music festivals this year including San Francisco’s Outside Lands and Maryland’s Oceans Calling Festival. There, Chase Sapphire has offered perks such as access to an exclusive lounge (featuring complimentary food and drinks) for Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardmembers. It also uses concerts as opportunities to encourage customers to spend their points — offering one-of-a-kind point redemptions such as a private cruise around Lake Michigan with DJ Diesel during the Lollapalooza musical festival in Chicago.

American Express has offered similar experiences to its most loyal customers who hold certain credit cards.

Amex also has relationships with major event venues to offer cardholder-exclusive perks. For example, at New York’s Barclays Center, cardholders have access to a dedicated entrance.

Some fans travel internationally

The TodayTix survey found that 4% of Americans are even willing to book an international trip specifically for a performance.

Terika Haynes, who runs a travel agency called Dynamite Travel, has booked trips for three separate clients to see Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour. Her clients are all based in the U.S., but they saw Beyoncé perform in Europe (specifically London, Paris and Brussels) because show tickets were cheaper. She says that the price of their airfare was essentially the price difference between tickets in the U.S. and in Europe.

“They were essentially able to get a two-for-one concert and a vacation for less than what they would have paid in the U.S.,” she says.