FIFO fans

Australians will happily jump on a plane to see their favourite artist perform, but once the show is over, we’re not particularly interested in hanging around.

New research from YouGov has found Australians are the most enthusiastic concert-goers of the five Asia-Pacific markets surveyed, with three in four (75 per cent) having attended a live concert or music festival.

More than half (55 per cent) of Australian concert-goers have travelled specifically to see an artist perform, rising to 71 per cent among gen Z and 63 per cent among Millennials.

While we’ll happily turn a concert into an excuse to travel, it seems we’re less inclined to turn that trip into a proper holiday.

Just 36 per cent of Australians surveyed said attending a concert had made them more interested in the destination hosting it — the lowest result across Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, and well below the regional average of 54 per cent.

Only a quarter said they had discovered a new destination through a concert and now intended to return, while Australians were also the least likely to tack extra days onto a concert trip to explore.

In other words, Australians seem to have a fly-in, fly-out mindset when it comes to travelling for special events like music concerts.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, cost appears to play a big part. Almost half (45 per cent) of Australians cited ticket prices as a barrier to attending more concerts, while 41 per cent pointed to the overall expense, which can quickly add up once travel and accommodation are thrown into the mix.

Despite this, most Australians expect to attend the same number of concerts — or more — during the next two years.

So while our appetite for live music clearly isn’t going anywhere, perhaps the bigger challenge is convincing people that the destination deserves some time in the spotlight too.