In his address to AIF conference delegates gathered in Cardiff today (Friday), Tom Kiehl, UK Music’s director of government and public affairs, said that 59 percent of people attending UK festivals are music tourists.
He went on to urge independent festival organisers to continue to innovate and inspire with their offer to keep enticing punters from home and abroad.
Citing UK Music’s Wish You Were Here research from last year, he added that music tourism generated spending of £2.2bn in 2012, with 6.6 million music tourists visiting concerts, gigs and festivals.
Overall, international tourists accounted for six percent of music tourism visits but 20 percent of the music tourism spend.
Kiehl said: ‘Independent festivals make a huge contribution to the festival scene in the UK. They are exciting and fresh and uniquely British.
‘They continue to evolve and satisfy their customers, which is clear from the results of the UK Music research; their role in the live sector and their ability to attract tourists will mean that the UK will remain musically exciting and economically competitive.’
Claire O’Neill, AIF senior manager, added: ‘The UK has the most dynamic, successful and exciting independent festivals in the world. The live sector, year after year, gives music fans memories they never forget.
‘The AIF greatly supports UK Music’s work on the impact of the live sector from a cultural and tourist point of view. Their reports put our impact into pounds and jobs. We know we create a lot of happy customers with our events, but we also make the UK a lot of money and create thousands of jobs.’
In 2015, UK Music will publish a new version of Wish You Here on behalf of the UK Live Music Group, which will see the publication of four years of unique data.
He went on to urge independent festival organisers to continue to innovate and inspire with their offer to keep enticing punters from home and abroad.
Citing UK Music’s Wish You Were Here research from last year, he added that music tourism generated spending of £2.2bn in 2012, with 6.6 million music tourists visiting concerts, gigs and festivals.
Overall, international tourists accounted for six percent of music tourism visits but 20 percent of the music tourism spend.
Kiehl said: ‘Independent festivals make a huge contribution to the festival scene in the UK. They are exciting and fresh and uniquely British.
‘They continue to evolve and satisfy their customers, which is clear from the results of the UK Music research; their role in the live sector and their ability to attract tourists will mean that the UK will remain musically exciting and economically competitive.’
Claire O’Neill, AIF senior manager, added: ‘The UK has the most dynamic, successful and exciting independent festivals in the world. The live sector, year after year, gives music fans memories they never forget.
‘The AIF greatly supports UK Music’s work on the impact of the live sector from a cultural and tourist point of view. Their reports put our impact into pounds and jobs. We know we create a lot of happy customers with our events, but we also make the UK a lot of money and create thousands of jobs.’
In 2015, UK Music will publish a new version of Wish You Here on behalf of the UK Live Music Group, which will see the publication of four years of unique data.
