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.
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.