Music Festivals: A New International Trend of Tourism

When I reminisce about the British summer, I can’t help but think of unpredictable weather patterns, strawberries, wasps, beer gardens, patchy sunburn, and a bi-annual disappointment with the English football team. But one thing that I love more than most is the music festival season. With Glastonbury little over a week away now, I couldn’t help but get excited about the prospect of an awesome summer of live music.

Yet, in the last few years, I have been going further afield to enjoy my festival kicks. It’s not that I don’t like British festivals, but with a foreign festival, you can get the same music experience, but with better scenery and far superior weather.

Last year, for example, I attended Soundwave in Croatia. I loved the fact that I could sunbath with a cool beer, and then take a dip in the beautiful waters of the Adriatic, before watching Cinematic Orchestra, Zero 7, and DJ Format.

I have also recently got back from Snowbombing in Austria, where I saw Fatboy Slim, Shy FX, and Beardyman perform in the Alpine village of Mayrhoffen. The glorious combination of skiing, the striking Zillertal Valley, and live music was enough to make this festival a truly incredible experience.

You see, I have now become a music tourist. With my last trip barely over, I have already started to plan my holiday for next year so that I can sample another fine European festival.

But I am by no means the only one, as music tourism is a rapidly growing industry. In 2009, there were 7.7 million individual visits to UK events, which resulted in £1.4 billion being spent. This, according to UK Music, led to a positive contribution of £869 million to the British economy.

Interestingly, almost a fifth of total income came from oversees music tourists, who, on average, spend 25% more than non-music tourists. This has resulted in UK Music calling on the government to implement a live music tourism strategy to boost the number of visitors to the UK.

It seems to be a good plan, as the revenue from live music events will be able to sustain 19,700 jobs this year.

So if you have any plans to attend a festival this year, have a great time. And lets hope for a bit of sun at Glastonbury this year.

Top models with Hunter Boots are so 2008…see picture!