Travel dupes. Hush trips. Slow travel. The list of buzzy new terms and trends in the travel industry is ever expanding. Lately another new concept is circulating the tourism media-sphere: gig-tripping.

As we approach summer 2024 and peak travel season picks up, expect to see more globetrotters reveal themselves as gig-trippers. But what exactly is gig-tripping and how does it work?

Below, travel experts break down the benefits and downsides of this trend.

What is gig-tripping?

Gig-tripping is a new trend that sees fans planning travel often internationally around the tour stops of their favorite artists, said Lisa Chen , CEO of ToursByLocals. This might be because they cant get tickets for their home show, to save money, or simply to combine their love of travel and music into one adventure.

Although the concept of traveling around the country or world to see a musical act is hardly new, the gig-tripping experience is different from more familiar iterations like the Deadhead subculture of living on the road to watch the Grateful Dead perform as many times as possible. Gig-trippers, by contrast, are typically fans who plan a vacation (or workcation) around one or two concerts in a specific location.

In some cases, it is cheaper to travel to a different location to see a popular artist, explained Phil Dengler , a co-founder of the travel website The Vacationer. For example, Taylor Swift tickets are often very expensive in some cities, so you could save hundreds if not thousands of dollars by flying to a city with cheaper prices. I personally flew from Philadelphia to Charleston a few years back to see the Black Keys. Concert prices were much lower in Charleston, and it gave me an excuse to explore the city for a few days.

Summer promises to bring a slew of gig-tripping Swift fans from the U.S. to Europe, as many found better ticket prices and availability in cities like Lyon, France, and Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

A 2023 survey from the travel platform GetYourGuide showed that 45% of Americans have been inspired to choose a specific travel destination by an event or experience they heard would be happening there, such as a concert. Recent survey data from Skyscanner also found that 60% of Americans were open to traveling abroad to save money on music events, and 44% of U.S. travelers were willing to fly short haul to see their favorite artists.

This interest in music-related tourism is perhaps unsurprising in an age when pop culture travel trends like set jetting have taken hold. Chen noted that ToursByLocals has seen a lot of success with tours related to movies or TV shows that were filmed and/or take place in various travel destinations.

Given the popularity of gig-tripping and continued excitement around the Eras tour internationally, weve actually recently launched a selection of London for Swifties Tours with Swift-inspired tours to some of Londons best neighborhoods, she said.