BTS comeback tour turbocharges concert tourism, with hotel searches jumping as much as 6,700%
Concert tourism is expected be one of the travel industry’s more lucrative drivers this year, according to Trip.com, and the upcoming global comeback tour by K-pop group BTS appears to be reinforcing that trend.
Flights and hotel rooms at their tour locations — in 34 cities across Asia, North and South America, Australia, Europe and the UK, from April 2026 to March 2027 — have sold out just as fast as their concert seats, and spillover tourists are expected to lend an additional income boost to host cities.
Within 48 hours of the tour announcement on Jan. 13, travel searches for South Korean cities Seoul and Busan increased by 155% and 2,375%, respectively, compared with the week before the announcement, according to the travel booking platform Hotels.com.
The momentum’s also extended beyond South Korea. In the host city Kaohsiung, Taiwan, searches surged 6,700% year on year during the Nov. 19 tour date, according to another travel agent platform, Booking.com.
Other major tours expected to draw international travel this year include those by Bruno Mars, Harry Styles and K-pop group EXO.
Sydney Goh