Forget the royal family, football and fish and chips, some might say that music is one of the biggest reasons why international tourists visit the United Kingdom. Now, according to a newly released report, they could be right.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Data published by UK Music has revealed that concerts and shows held by popular acts such as Oasis, Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Lana Del Rey and Kendrick Lamar helped to attract a record 24.7 million music tourists to the UK in 2025 – a 4.8% rise from the 23.5 million in 2024.
Of the total music tourists last year, 22.6 million were from the UK – a 3.2% rise year-on-year from the 21.9 million domestic visitors in 2024. UK Music’s data also revealed that a total 2.1 million visitors were overseas music tourists in 2025, a “huge” 26.8% increase on the 2024 figures of 1.6 million.
With millions of tourists comes big spending – especially at festivals and events. In 2025, music tourist spending hit a new high of £11.2 billion (€13.1 billion) across the UK at major festivals and concerts like Glastonbury, Download, Reading, Boomtown and Wireless. This marked an 11.3% increase from 2024.
Before its fallow year in 2026, Glastonbury welcomed The 1975, Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo and Charli xcx on stage in Somerset in 2025. Helping to boost music tourism outside London and the North West, it was a “similar story in East Anglia” with Ed Sheeran’s run of shows at Ipswich Town’s Portman Road stadium.
Oasis Live ’25 Tour drives huge numbers
The long-awaited Oasis reunion saw 17 sell-out concerts take place across the UK. As part of the global Oasis Live ’25 Tour, two concerts were held at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, five at Heaton Park in Manchester, seven at Wembley Stadium in London, and three at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh.
The series of Oasis gigs, plus headline shows by the likes of Sheeran, Sam Fender, South Korean artists Blackpink, and Catfish and The Bottlemen, saw revenues “surge” across the UK.
According to the report, in the North West, music tourists’ spending rose 15.6% from £1.2 billion (€1.41 billion) in 2024 to £1.4 billion (€1.64 billion) in 2025. In London, music tourism spending increased by 27.4% from £2.7 billion (€3.17 billion) in 2024 to £3.4 billion (€3.99 billion) last year.
In a separate report by Barclays, published ahead of the gigs last year, it was predicted that fans going to the Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour would spend a combined £1.06 billion (€1.24 billion).
With almost 1.4 million people attending the band’s 17 sold-out UK concerts, fans were expected to have spent an average of £766 (€899) each on tickets, travel, accommodation, outfits and other expenses.