China's offline performing arts market has continued to gain steam following the arrival of the summer vacation. Between July and August, more than 100 concerts and music festivals are about to take place across the country.
Statistics indicated that concerts and music festivals play an important role in driving consumption in tourist destinations. In addition to watching concerts and music festivals, many people also make travel plans to hosting cities or nearby cities, boosting consumption in these places.
Statistics from the ticketing information platform of the China Association of Performing Arts indicated that in the second quarter of 2023, 124,400 commercial performances were held, up 80.6 percent from the previous quarter. The performances generated box office revenue of more than 11.8 billion yuan ($1.63 billion), an increase of 137.2 percent from the previous quarter. The performances recorded more than 40.38 million spectators, up 84.81 percent from the first quarter of this year.
Industry insiders believe that the strong demand for offline performances comes as a result of supply side innovation, pointing out that the industry needs to continue to stimulate new demand for consumption through innovation.
Going to another city to watch concerts and music festivals has become a major trend of consumption. Among people who watched concerts of popular singers in Beijing, more than 40 percent were from other cities than Beijing.
Statistics from the China Association of Performing Arts indicated that during the May Day holiday of 2023, people traveling to another city to watch large-scale performances accounted for more than half of the total number of people watching the performances.
Driven by music festivals and concerts, consumer spending on transportation, accommodations and catering exceeded 1.2 billion yuan during the holiday.
Shen Jiani, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic Research of the Ctrip Research Center, said that in addition to watching concerts and music festivals, many people also traveled to hosting cities or made short-distance trips to their surrounding areas, which resulted in a surge in consumption of tourism products and services.
The China Association of Performing Arts said in a bulletin on the national performing arts market in the first half of 2023 that destinations providing sightseeing and cultural experience services were popular among tourists.
Since this year, music festivals have come to third- and fourth-tier cities, enabling more people to experience live music. Industry insiders pointed out that young people in these cities are a major target of music festivals, as well as a prime driving force of consumption during the events.
