British rock band Coldplay's much-anticipated return to India in January next year, after nine years, triggered a mad rush for concert tickets and hotel rooms in Mumbai. Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know that the Coldplay concert in Mumbai sold out within minutes of going live, leaving fans frustrated after hours of waiting in virtual queues.
With options running out at home, Indian fans are now setting their sights overseas, hopping on the trend of gig-tripping.
Gig-tripping is a travel trend where fans plan trips, often internationally, to attend concerts by their favourite artists. Skyscanner, an online travel company, predicted that cultural exploration will be a priority for travellers in 2024, with gig-tripping topping the charts.
According to Skyscanner's Travel Trends 2024, 37 per cent of Indian travellers are willing to fly short-haul to see their favourite performers live, while 20 per cent are ready to take off on long-haul flights.
Overall, 44 per cent of Indian travellers have expressed their desire to attend a music concert in 2024, with a major chunk of interest coming from 25 to 34-year-olds.
The Skyscanner report further stated that a ‘huge 79 per cent’ would prefer to attend a concert overseas instead if it means saving more money. When tickets for their Mumbai concert quickly sold out and were later resold at exorbitant prices—reportedly ₹50,000 and above—many Indian Coldplay fans decided to explore international destinations.
As it turns out, Abu Dhabi has emerged as a popular choice. Coldplay is set to perform there on January 11-12, and several fans from Bengaluru and Mumbai have shared screenshots of their tickets on X.
A ticket for the Coldplay Abu Dhabi concert starts at AED 195, which is ₹4438.85 for standard seating, and can go up as high as AED 1,495, i.e. ₹34031.17 for the Deluxe seating.
Surprisingly, attending the concert in Abu Dhabi may turn out to be a better deal than trying to catch the band live in Mumbai. On September 27, a quick search by Mint for round-trip flights from New Delhi to Abu Dhabi for January 10 showed prices around ₹28,418, while a similar round-trip from Mumbai costs about ₹23,715. Adding the cost of concert tickets, the total expenses of the Abu Dhabi shows might still be less than attending the Mumbai ones.
