The latest travel trend…
Where a viral pop sensation lands, a surge in tourism follows. With music being such a large selling point for Chinese audiences, travelling trends have expanded into the realm of popular music culture, resulting in the rise of ‘concert tourism’- the act of devoted fans flying across countries just to experience their favourite musicians in live show. According to the U.S. travel association, fans of Taylor Swift collectively spent an incredible $10 billion on various factors surrounding her 2023-2024 ‘Eras tour’ in America alone, with hotels gaining over $208 million in revenue. As Shanghai begins negotiations with the global superstar to bring the Eras Tour to China in 2025, economy-boosting experiences are more important than ever to the future of Chinese tourism.
Tourism is being re-defined from a cultural perspective. The trend of travelling thousands of miles for a singular experience has been skyrocketing among tourists with the arrival of the Eras Tour, known in this context as ‘gig hopping’, and coined by fans as a ‘Swift-cation’. Due to the lack of these shows in China, many fans flew out for Taylor Swift’s 6-show run in Singapore; these were the only shows in Southeast Asia, attracting over 368,000 attendees- notably, around 70% of them arrived from overseas to experience the pop sensation. As a result, Singapore’s economy was boosting by a whopping estimate of $370 million. A run of shows in China could have an incredible effect on the economy, a crucial factor for Shanghai’s tourism officials in their decision to enter talks with Swift. So which other pop stars are driving this travel trend?
Jay Chou
Jay Chou, Tawainese singer-songwriter and a highly influential figure in China, is set to close the curtains on his ‘Carnival’ world tour which has spanned the last 6 years. Over the touring period, Chou has drawn swarming crowds to shows across China, boosting its economy massively in the tourism sector. The ‘Carnival’ tour kicked off in Shanghai in 2019, and will be finishing there this October; Chou’s recent shows there have seen bookings for hotels increased by approximately 80%, taxi travel risen to by 70%, and the demand for trips to and from the venue of Chou’s performance surging by an impressive 300%. Chou’s tour covered various regions of China, including Sanya, a city on the coast of Hainain island in Southern China, which experienced an influx of over 120,000 concert-goers; 82% of which were from overseas. In order to target this fleeting audience on their travels, officials in Sanya launched new consumption strategies such as exclusive activities and discounts for fans of Jay Chou at restaurants and hotels, as well as promoting nearby scenic locations on the island for travel outside of concert hours.
Blackpink
Set to become one of the most profitable tours in k-pop history, Blackpink’s ‘DEADLINE’ is their third world tour and the first to exclusively stop at stadiums- 33 of which are scattered across Asia, Europe and the United States. Despite being a South Korean group, Blackpink are massively popular in China, where the DEADLINE tour is scheduled to finish at the Kai Tak stadium in Hong Kong. The girl group recently kicked off a series of pop-up stores across China, where they offer concert merchandise, such as tote bags, hats and t shirts, as well as physical albums, keychains and light sticks; many of which sold out immediately. The pop-ups, which are designed to promote Blackpink’s upcoming tour, not only offer economic gain through a unique shopping experience, but provide the visitors with an immersive experience that celebrates the group’s success- featuring a photo booth area and even a wall where fans can handwrite a personal message to the members. Starting in Shanghai on August 2nd, the store’s huge success led to openings in Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Beijing, and remained open for the rest of August, seeing giant queues gathering in the streets of China for access to the event. This dedicated fanbase has followed Blackpink all over the world, with a recent show in London’s 90,000 capacity Wembley stadium attracting many student tourists from China.
Big Bang
Another popular South Korean group in China is Big Bang, dubbed the ‘Kings of K-pop’, who’s mass support in Asia has broken records. The boy band have ventured on 11 tours- 6 in Japan and 2 world tours- and have attracted millions of fans from China. Due to their tours mostly being based in South Korea and Japan, Big Bang’s Chinese following have travelled far and wide to see them perform. In June 2016, a selection of tickets reserved for Chinese fans to a one-off show in South Korea sold out in 9 minutes. With the average age of a k-pop fan being 23 years old, and many fans in the student demographic, Big Bang’s record breaking tours are certainly attractive to the Gen-Z viewer.
Avril Lavigne
Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne is known for her popularity in China, having historically expressed a great love for Asian culture in her style and music. Her 2013 release “Hello Kitty” is influenced by Japanese pop music (J-pop) and her adoration for the Hello Kitty brand, even featuring lyrics in Japanese. While criticised by the Western music industry for accused cultural appropriation, the song was widely accepted in Japan, where the music video was also shot in Tokyo by a Japanese director. The controversy behind ‘Hello Kitty’ helped to boost Avril’s visibility in Asia, and garnered her support from China. Her pop-punk music style is attractive for adolescents and she has therefore generated a mass teen following around the world.
Unlike other Western artists of the time, Avril ensured to tour in Asia from the beginning of her career, with shows in China from as early as her second concert tour ‘Bonez tour’ in 2004. Since then, she has completed five more tours in China, reaching destinations such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Nanjing and Hangzhou. Lavigne has even received support from the afforementioned Taiwanese music legend Jay Chou, who she was photographed with in 2004, with him expressing admiration of her work ‘Her music is very cool!’. Avril Lavigne is loved by Chinese fans not only for her music, but for her kindness and generosity- when Wenchuan was struck by a disastrous eathquake in 2008, the popstar didn’t hesitate to donate 3.2 million to the victims and even invited two of them to attend a later show in Beijing for free. After a long hiatus, Avril recently completed her eighth concert tour this June, which spanned 69 shows across 2024 and 2025, and still has remaining USA festival dates lined up for this October which are bound to get Chinese fans travelling.
Troye Sivan
Previously holding the title of the number one global artist in China, Troye Sivan is an Australian musician who has a large Gen-Z fanbase all over the world. He is loved not only for his modern pop music, but his appearance- which is described to perfectly match Chinese beauty standards and led him to become the brand ambassador for China’s leading domestic make-up company ‘Perfect Diary’. Sivan’s fourth concert tour, titled ‘The Bloom Tour’, featured 5 shows in China including two nights at Shanghai’s 18,000 capacity Mercedes-Benz arena. Sivan has used Chinese social media platform Weibo to roll out promotions for his upcoming music, which allowed him to directly target this audience and led to great success with his number 1 spot in 2022. His music caters to various communities, being an LGBTQ+ artist, and interestingly his fanbase is made up of 78% women. Troye Sivan predominantly attracts a younger audience, being only 30 himself, and many of this Gen-Z-led fan club show unwavering support for his music by travelling across the world for shows.
Opening doors for concert tourism
Due to logistical difficulties and tighter regulations surrounding music tourism in China, many successful Western artists don’t expand their tours there, despite being loved by Chinese nationals. This opens doors for concert tourism, with the travel of devoted fans giving immense benefits to the economy of each destination they reach. Tours of much loved musicians and bands to the UK and Europe could open our opportunities for Chinese tourism, keen to combine music with sightseeing opportunities, museums and shopping.
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