Gigs bring £300m boost to London

Tourist spending on pop and rock concerts at venues such as the 02, the Camden Roundhouse and Brixton Academy is worth more than £300 million to the London economy.

A new report estimates that 4.65 million people attended concerts and festivals in the capital last year, of which almost 1.8 million were “music tourists” who visited London specifically to see live gigs. That represents 28 per cent of all such tourists to the UK.

They attended more than 17,000 live performances at 349 live music venues across London according to the Wish You Were Here report written by analysts Oxford Economics on behalf of the VisitBritain tourism agency.

The figures included performances ranging from The Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary gig at the 02 in Greenwich last November to pop band McFly at the Hammersmith Apollo.

The researchers estimate that £199 million is spent in London by tourists from other parts of Britain and £123 million by foreign visitors.

Singer Jessie J said: “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.”

The figures did not include the Notting Hill Carnival, which attracts more than one million people, because the music is mainly played by DJs rather than by live bands. They also did not count tourists drawn by London’s musical history heritage such as the Abbey Road zebra crossing in St John’s Wood made world famous by the Beatles album cover.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, whose musical tastes are said to include The Clash and AC/DC, said: “The music industry is hugely important to our economy, but also to how visitors perceive our country. London is right at the heart of this dynamic sector, being home to one of the biggest music festivals known to man, the most popular music venue on the planet and the most expansive music scene this side of the moon.

“As this excellent report shows, a rocking £322 million was spent by music tourists in the capital last year, proving that London remains a mecca for music lovers the world over.”

Jo Dipple, chief executive of industry body UK Music said: "It's clear our music industry is doing a great job for the British economy, encouraging 6.5 million tourists who generated £2.2 billion last year.