Photo Credit: Oberon Copeland
Gen Z is traveling far and wide to catch their favorite artists in concert in a trend defined by groups of friends staying together to cut costs.
Airbnb says “show hopping” is on the rise when it comes to concert travel, with fans “traveling far and wide to catch their favorite acts live.” To cut costs, Gen Z in particular is enjoying the trend of “groupie getaways,” where friends rent places to stay in together to help offset the costs of such travel.
“This summer, some of the world’s biggest artists with devoted fans are lighting up stages across the US, with chart-toppers like BTS, Noah Kahan, Ariana Grande, and more inspiring fans to ‘show hop’,” reads Airbnb’s blog post.
According to Airbnb, Boston is seeing triple-digit spikes in guest searches in the city during the two-week period after major tour announcements. These include the aforementioned artists, as well as Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars, many of whom are embarking on their first headline tour since 2019. Searches related to BTS in particular have surged nearly 600% in the city.
Meanwhile, this fall, Gen Z fans are looking for places to stay with their friends in New York and New Jersey to catch Harry Styles’ highly anticipated residency, with searches in the area up over 200%. Similarly, festival season is on the rise, and travelers are eagerly searching for places to stay for Coachella, Lollapalooza, Ultra Music Festival, and more.
Naturally, Airbnb is using the opportunity to offer fans bookable “experiences” around these events to entice more people to book those stays. These include after-party taco bars in Palm Springs, chef-prepped meals delivered to your door in Chicago, and on-demand glam sessions in Miami.
It’s great news for the short-term rental company’s bottom line—and with more folks traveling together, it might even help offset some of the live event industry’s carbon emissions problem, of which fan travel accounts for over 62% in the US and 77% in the UK.
