With Lady Gaga set to take the stage for four exclusive shows in Singapore in May, Indian travelers were among the top five global markets searching for accommodation in Singapore during this period, according to online travel platform Booking.com.

Singapore will be Lady Gaga’s only stop in Asia during her latest world tour, and according to the platform, fans from across Asia-Pacific are heading for the concert.

According to Booking.com’s search data for the week after the announcement of ticket sales, there was a 20% increase in accommodation searches for Singapore during the concert period from Indian travelers. While fans from Australia are leading the travel search to Singapore for the concerts, India is second followed by Singapore, Taiwan, and the UK.
The trend has also been observed by other travel platforms.

“Our data indicates a strong travel demand for upcoming music events, such as the Lady Gaga concert in Singapore. Routes from major metros like Delhi, Mumbai, BengaIluru, Chennai and Hyderabad are witnessing strong demand, with average roundtrip airfares ranging at approximately INR 36,000 ($420) from Delhi, INR 27,000 ($315) from Mumbai, and INR 26,000 ($305) from Bengaluru for bookings made 15 days in advance,” Rajeev Kale - President & Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa - Thomas Cook (India) Limited told Skift.

Last year, Taylor Swift’s six-night sold-out concert run in Singapore, between March 2 and March 9 last led to the city-state recording 1.48 million visitor arrivals and experts projected tourism receipts of SGD 500 million ($373.5 million).

The Trend of Music Tourism: Music tourism is a growing trend in India. Skift had earlier reported that concerts such as Bryan Adams, Coldplay, and music festivals like Lollapalooza were driving travel among Indians. They were also traveling internationally to see their favorite musicians live.

During the online travel platform MakeMyTrip’s earnings call in January, Group CEO Rajesh Magow pointed to rising demand for tourism fueled by large-scale concerts and events, in line with Skift’s Megatrends for 2025. While Coldplay’s concerts in Mumbai earlier this year saw approximately 75% of attendees traveled from outside the city, Magow said that the trend extends beyond domestic borders, with MakeMyTrip recording high demand for international events, such as the Coldplay concert in Abu Dhabi.

Music concerts are becoming an exciting reason to travel, and we are seeing a strong uptick in interest from our customers over the past year,” said SD Nandakumar - President and Country Head - Holidays and Corporate Tours at SOTC Travel Limited. He added that the trend gained significant momentum from traveler segments like Millennials and GenZ, multigenerational families, couples, working professionals, and adhoc group of friends eager to travel to witness their favorite artists perform live.

At the Skift India Forum last month, Daniel Dsouza, Co-Founder of DreamSetGo, said that live tourism is “exploding.” “It is a combination of young India trying to imbibe the pop culture that is happening around the world. It has more to do with people spending a lot of time digitally on their devices, and I think it gives an opportunity for people to connect with others.”

Indians are also combining concert-driven trips with other local experiences, said Kale. “Travelers are including local experiences to their itinerary such as like Universal Studios, Singapore Flyer, Minionland, The Ice Cream museum, Night safaris and shopping”

Nandakumar also noted a trend of adding other destinations: “What is interesting is that travelers are extending their holidays from mono-destination to multi-destination itineraries – extending their holidays from Singapore to Malaysia and Thailand; also nearby island locales like Bintan and Sabah. Additionally, Singapore-Malaysia cruises are witnessing a spike in customer interest.”

Source: skift.com