[Edaily Reporter Oh Hee-na ] It has been revealed that K-pop artists and fan culture are driving demand among overseas fans to visit South Korea, with concerts playing a decisive role in their choice of travel destinations.

On the 5th, Trip.com Group, which operates the travel platform Trip.com, revealed this in a report titled “The Concert Travel Effect in Asia,” published jointly with Live Nation Asia. Based on surveys conducted in six markets—South Korea, mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, and Thailand—as well as Trip.com Group’s travel data and insights from Ticketmaster, the report analyzed the impact of concerts on destination selection and itinerary planning.
James Dick, Executive Vice President (EVP) of Partnerships and Media at Live Nation Asia, said, “Fans visit a city to see an artist, but they also stay overnight, dine out, and explore the area while they’re there,” adding, “A single concert can spark an entire trip.”
According to the report, live performances emerged as one of the primary motivations for international fans to visit South Korea.
Seventy-three percent of Thai respondents said they would be willing to visit South Korea to see a concert by an artist they really wanted to see. About one in five respondents from Thailand and Hong Kong had already visited South Korea to attend a concert, and respondents from Singapore cited South Korea as the country they were most likely to visit to attend a music concert.
This demand for concert travel was evident across Asia. Sixty-five percent of respondents across the six markets said they had traveled to another country or region to attend a concert, and seven out of ten respondents cited live music performances as one of the most exciting reasons for traveling.

Respondents in South Korea showed a similar trend. Fifty-five percent of respondents had traveled to another country or region to attend a performance, and 69% said that traveling for a live music performance was particularly meaningful. When planning a concert trip, securing tickets (52%) was cited as the most important factor, followed by affordable airfare and transportation (41%) and accommodations near the venue (38%). In other words, securing tickets serves as the starting point for travel planning, while transportation and lodging conditions act as factors in determining the specific itinerary.
There is also growing demand to design an entire travel itinerary rather than simply attending the concert on the day of the event. Bookings for ticket packages on Trip.com Group increased by 64% in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, indicating significant growth in products that combine concerts and travel. Seventy-six percent of Korean respondents expressed interest in packages combining concerts and travel, and one in three said they had used Trip.com to book a trip to attend an overseas concert.
Since forming a partnership in 2025, Trip.com Group and Live Nation Asia have been offering packages that combine concert tickets with hotels, transportation, and local experiences.
Bo Sun, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Trip.com Group, said, “Experience-driven travel is becoming an increasingly important factor in how people choose when and where to travel, and live music is a powerful driver in determining the destinations fans seek out.” He added, “We are connecting those moments of travel inspiration—such as tickets, flights, accommodations, and attractions—to help travelers enrich their entire journey.”