Adele and Coldplay ‘break Munich tourism record’

Concerts by Adele and Coldplay have been credited for prompting a record-breaking tourism spike in Munich, Germany.

Adele played 10 nights between 2-31 August at a bespoke 73,000-capacity pop-up stadium in Munich – the largest temporary arena ever built – while Coldplay brought their Music of the Spheres World Tour to the 70,000-cap Olympic Stadium for three dates on 15 & 17-18 August.

Hotels and other accommodation establishments in the Bavarian capital reported 2.1 million overnight stays during the month – up almost 20% year-on-year and the highest total since records began in 1912, according to the city administration.

German news agency dpa-AFX further notes that August saw a huge influx of overseas visitors from the UK, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, with the number of stays from those countries each shooting up by tens of thousands.

The Adele run, which marked the first time the singer had played mainland Europe since 2016, also gave a spending boost of more than €540 million to the Munich economy, according to the head of Munich’s economic department Clemens Baumgärtner.

A-list tours are becoming increasingly hot commodities in efforts to boost tourism

While the city did not contribute financially to the Adele shows, A-list tours are becoming increasingly hot commodities in efforts to boost tourism.

Earlier this year, it emerged the Western Australian government paid A$8 million to subsidise two Coldplay concerts in Perth, while Singapore courted controversy after striking an exclusivity deal with Taylor Swift to make the island nation her only Eras tour stop in south-east Asia.

Meanwhile, UK music tourism increased by 33% in 2023 thanks to concerts from the likes of Beyoncé, The Weeknd, Harry Styles and Blur and festivals including Glastonbury. Around 19.2 million music tourists (national and international) attended live music events across the UK last year, up from 14.4 million in 2022, according to research from UK Music.

Music tourism spending surged to £8 billion (€9.6bn), a 21% increase from £6.6bn in 2022.

IQ‘s feature on Adele’s German residency can be read here, while our Coldplay tour report can be accessed here.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

A-list stars drive Singapore’s tourism reboot

Live music has been credited with helping to rejuvenate tourism in Singapore ahead of record-setting 2024 tours by Coldplay and Taylor Swift.

The superstar acts will both play six nights at the 55,000-cap Singapore National Stadium next year, with Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour landing from 23-24, 26-27 & 30-31 January, and Swift’s Eras Tour to visit from 2-4 and 7-9 March.

The country has welcomed around 6.3 million international visitors in 2023 so far, putting it on track towards meeting its goal of 12-14m.

“Driving Singapore’s tourism recovery is its smart use of sporting and music events,” says Hannah Pearson, director at travel market research organisation Pear Anderson. “Google searches for accommodation hit peaks every time new concerts were announced and tickets were released.”

With sales exceeding 200,000 Coldplay also broke Singapore’s record for the most tickets sold by an artist in a single day, while Swift’s six shows are her only Eras tour dates in Southeast Asia. A report by SCMP credits the collaboration between the government and the Singapore Sports Hub for succeeding in bringing both blockbuster tours to the stadium.

“This spike in accommodation bookings is a testament to the undeniable lure of live musical experiences”

“This proactive and dynamic approach has enabled us to optimise our venues to deliver top-tier events and maximise our event programming … and to support tourism for Singapore,” says a spokesperson for the Kallang Alive Sport Management, which manages the venue.

Digital travel platform Agoda says the number of hotel searches in Singapore over the dates of Coldplay’s concerts increased by 8.7 times.

“Music inspires a great deal of passion, and dedicated fans are truly remarkable as they will travel far and wide to see their favourite acts live,” says Enric Casals, Agoda’s regional associate vice-president for Southeast Asia. “This spike in accommodation bookings is a testament to the undeniable lure of live musical experiences, showcasing the profound impact they have on travel decisions.”

Meanwhile, it was reported last week that Singapore has seen a massive uptick in concert ticket scams, with reports that consumers have lost at least S$518,000 (€352,000) in the first half of 2023.

This amount is more than 50% higher than in the past five years combined, with S$84,000 lost in 2018; S$66,000 in 2019; S$9,000 in 2020; S$3,000 in 2021; S$175,000 in 2022.

These figures were reported by the minister for home affairs and law (MHA), K. Shanmugam, in response to a question by a member of parliament about the financial toll of such scams over the past five years.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.