Stuart WoodFesticket, the world’s largest online booking portal for music festivals, has shared its annual industry findings as the summer season draws to a close.
Data was gathered from Festickets member base of over 1,000 festival partners and 2.5m+ users. It found that travellers who went abroad for a festival rose by 29% this year.
The standout destination globally was Hungary, with a 773% growth in festival visitors, but festivals in Portugal (127%), Spain (132%), Belgium (120%) and the Netherlands (104%) have all seen massive growth in 2018.
The two nationalities that travel outside of their country the most often for festivals are those from Hungary and Switzerland, with only 7.5% and 25% respectively choosing festivals within their country. Meanwhile, tastes for foreign festivals are changing: British festival-goers, for example, are increasingly choosing Spanish festivals over Croatian festivals.
Investing in festival experiences is an ongoing trend, with the average booker now spending €167 on their trip. Australians and Swedes are most likely to spend more on their festival experience, with an average spend of €334 and €309 respectively per person. Meanwhile, frugal European neighbours, the Netherlands and France, spend an average of €114 and €111 respectively on festivals.
Zack Sabban, CEO & co-founder at Festicket, explains: “We’re thrilled to see our customers become more adventurous: they are clearly happy to bounce across the continent to see their favourite artists live. Sziget Festival in Budapest is now one of our biggest sellers, which may be why Hungary saw such a massive boost in bookings this year.”
“For us, these stats are a great indication that a wide selection of well-priced and convenient accommodation and travel booking options is just what customers need when they buy their festival tickets.”