Tourists attending concerts and music festivals in the UK are boosting the UK economy by £2.2 billion a year as 6.5 million tourists went to a gig or festival last year, according to a new report by VisitBritain.

Music tourism provides a boost to the UK’s nations, regions and local economies, including at least 24,000 jobs each year.

The Wish You Were Here report demonstrates the pulling power of live music and its potential to fuel tourism throughout the country.

Tourists at live music events offer regional tourism benefits, motivating Britain-wide travel.

VisitBritain’s ambition is to attract a total of 40 million overseas visitors by 2020, which music tourism will look to contribute more to over the coming years.

VisitBritain CEO Sandie Dawe commented: “This report confirms that the UK’s music scene has significant international appeal and that music tourists spend lots of money and travel across the whole of Britain.

“This will act as a catalyst for us all to ramp up our activity and forge better relationships with festival organisers, promoters, venues and producers to raise awareness of our amazing music scene across the world.”

Brit award winner and GREAT ambassador Jessie J added: “Music for me is the only global language. It’s such a huge thing for Britain to have strong live music, making our mark as performers across the world.

“I see international visitors at my gigs all the time waving their flags. Fans that have dedicated their time and money so I try to give them all that I have every performance. I love the thought of them going back to their home towns across the world with that lasting memory of me performing on stage.”

Over the summer many senior politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron, creative minister Ed Vaizey and shadow minister for culture Dan Jarvis, referred to the music industry’s potential for attracting overseas visitors to events such as Glastonbury and Bestival.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey MP said: “Music is without question an essential element of Britain’s tourism appeal, and it is this ability of the UK’s music industry to attract tourists from near and far to our shores that is celebrated in this report.

“The huge financial contribution to the UK economy by the millions of music tourists to the UK annually makes it very clear that when combined, the music and tourism industries are powerful drivers for growth.” Vaizey added.