Events travel — that’s the ticket
Travelers are eager to pair once-in-a-lifetime trips with blockbuster events, and advisors, travel suppliers and event ticket sellers are increasingly working together to craft packages that meet this demand.
Lewis Hamilton was not a name I was familiar with before my trip to Abu Dhabi in November to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix world championship final.
But by the end of four days with MSC Cruises, I walked away not only more familiar with Hamilton and his decorated career as a race car driver but also as a fan of Formula 1 overall, wondering when I might have the chance to experience this sport live again.
My brother, who joined me on the trip and is a walking encyclopedia of Formula 1 knowledge, told me what to look out for during the races, which were held at the Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island. Our schedule was jam-packed with enviable Formula 1 experiences both onboard the MSC Virtuosa and at the circuit. It was also a chance for us to bond over what became a shared interest.
The Virtuosa, our floating hotel during the race weekend, was set up almost like a Formula 1 conference. There were multiple panel discussions and Q&A sessions with former and current drivers, along with the CEO of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali; there were private evening events onboard for guests who purchased MSC’s Formula 1 experience packages; actual Formula 1 race cars were on display onboard; and MSC’s signature Formula 1 race car simulator proved to be a fan favorite.
Off the ship, the experiences were even more immersive. The hospitality package provided by MSC came with access to the Yas Suite at the track, which had both indoor and outdoor seating with great views of the racetrack and a variety of food and beverage options.
We could spend all day at the track watching practice sessions, driver parades and air shows. Evenings concluded with live concerts at the stadium next door, with Tiesto, Chris Brown, Shania Twain and the Foo Fighters headlining concerts with pyrotechnics and a packed stadium.
That MSC Formula 1 experience gave me an adrenaline rush I wanted more of: an experience that catapulted me to the center of a global event in a world-class destination.
As it happens, I’m not the only one who’s looking.
Events travel catches on
Events-based travel is entering its glow-up era, with the market ushering in a new wave of travel products built around blockbuster events.
According to travel suppliers and sellers, it’s a wave that’s been too slow to grow, as the landscape for packaged trips with ticketed access to major events remains largely underdeveloped, despite demand for those events being consistently high and fast-growing.
Just think back to the summer of 2023, a year dominated by silver cowboy hats and friendship bracelets as concert tours from two of music’s biggest and brightest stars, Taylor Swift and Beyonce, reached literally seismic proportions: At Swift’s Eras tour stop in Seattle, fans dancing to her hit song “Shake It Off” caused the equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.
The Eras tour generated $208 million in U.S. hotel room revenue from June to August, according to STR, while Beyonce’s Renaissance tour had an economic impact in the U.S. of $4.5 billion, according to the New York Times.
The power that events can have on tourism and the larger economy is being met by a travel industry eager to build trips around these opportunities.
“Travel is a huge potential distribution opportunity for events,” said Douglas Quinby, CEO and co-founder of travel research firm Arival. “If I’m a hotelier or an online travel agency, I would love to be able to get access to different tickets to sell the bundle with hotels and so forth.”
And according to Arival’s 2024 study “The Power of Events: How Sports and Performing Arts Drive Tourism,” tapping into events travel is a good way to shore up future sales: 44% of travelers attending events in the U.S. are 18 to 34 years old, while 18% are over 55, making Gen Z and young millennial travelers twice as likely to attend an event as late Gen X and boomer travelers.
Removing roadblocks to events travel
Despite that demand, there are various challenges for suppliers and travel agencies wanting to package and market travel tied to major events on a broad scale: limited event access, with official hospitality event partners or ticket distributors often among the few that can sell tickets, and a lack of a technology infrastructure to support the growth of events-based travel.
“When you look at the travel advisor distribution system, there’s really no central place where advisors can go to get sporting and live event tickets,” said Kier Matthews, vice president of global luxury sales for On Location Experiences, the official partner for the 2024 Paris Olympics. “There are very few options for them to pick up the phone and say, ‘I need Olympics or Super Bowl or NCAA Final Four tickets this week.’ There is no single supplier for that.”
Suppliers “need to be able to get technical access to the inventory in order to offer it, market it and merchandise it to customers,” Quinby added.
This is slowly starting to happen, as some ticket distributors are working to provide more travel advisor and supplier access to events, while suppliers are creating their own packages that bundle events, hotels and experiences.
On Location launched travel advisor outreach efforts this past fall, recognizing the value of the trade to broaden its distribution reach, expand awareness and make the idea of attending the Olympics as accessible as possible.
On Location has significantly expanded its network and now actively markets to over 6,200 travel advisors while also expanding its roster of preferred partners, which includes Cruise Planners.
Matthews said the company, also the official partner for major sports and entertainment events, including the Super Bowl, the Masters and the Frieze art fairs in New York and Los Angeles, spent a significant amount of time ahead of the launch to ensure that everything from how documents are handled to commission structures would support how agencies work.
“We believe that we can transform and change the world through live events. That’s the foundation of what we’re doing,” Matthews said. “And the best way to bring that into fruition is through travel advisors.”
‘We believe that we can transform and change the world through live events.’
Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticket seller, ventured into the space last year with Ticketmaster Travel, which aims to simplify event trip-planning with multiday experiences. Ticketmaster said it helps event organizers sell their tickets through more than 20 OTA partnerships.
The company said it works with experts in hospitality and tourism to craft packages around select tours, events and festivals, enabling users to bundle hotels and experiences with tickets.
The packages include event tickets, hotel stays with food and beverage credits, VIP access to nightclubs, early entry to shows and private transportation. There is also an option to build custom packages, with specific shows and hotels.
A Kylie Minogue experience with a two-night stay at the Venetian Las Vegas and a signed vinyl copy of her latest album starts at around $2,500 per person. A three-night package for two to see Kelly Clarkson includes center front orchestra seats and a stay at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino for about $6,800.
Ticketmaster launched its travel arm as demand for its live events is stronger than ever: Ticket sales were up 22% year over year by the end of Q3 2023, and 92% of customers said they planned to go to the same number of shows or more in 2024.
Travel advisors can also book some premier global events through traditional travel suppliers, such as MSC.
The cruise line entered a multiyear partnership with Formula 1 in 2022 and began offering its ships as hotels featuring varying levels of experiences at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Citing success, MSC will also be the title sponsor of two Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix races in 2024 — the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka and the Gran Premio dell’Emilia Romagna in Imola, Italy — and will offer similar guest experiences.
For MSC, the partnership is both an opportunity to sell experiences and a marketing tool.
“Through these partnerships we have been able to showcase our brand at highly visible sporting events to a global audience including sports enthusiasts, event attendees and viewers watching the event on television or online, many of whom may not have been exposed to our brand before,” said Alberto Revelli, head of sport sponsorships at MSC Cruises.
Kensington Tours said it regularly gets requests for trips around events including Formula 1 and Oktoberfest but usually from clients who already have tickets and need help building the trip. The tour operator hopes to expand its ability to offer packages that include events.
“We’re presently in the process of working out how to better promote products and itineraries around big-ticket events,” said Jason Susinski, director of product at Kensington Tours. “It’s a bit premature to say exactly what we will be targeting, but I can say that we have seen past interest in things like Wimbledon, in the Masters, certainly in Monaco and other cities around Europe. Those are the biggest ones.”
Packaging makes sense
Younger travelers may be the most likely to attend events, but especially since the pandemic, providers say age is nothing but a number when it comes to the experiences travelers are eager to have.
“Over the last five years, I would say it’s become cross generational,” said Brian Ruede, CEO of Quint, the official hospitality partner of Formula 1, the NBA and Churchill Downs (home of the Kentucky Derby), among others. “It’s global. It’s everyone. Everyone is looking to experience and spend money on experiences versus things.”
On the Record: CEO Brian Ruede on Quint's growth in the events travel sector.
The Super Bowl, the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, the French Open, the Masters and Formula 1 are among the top requests in sports, while Coachella, Las Vegas residency shows and New York Fashion Week are popular nonsports events, advisors and suppliers say.
‘As Taylor Swift tours internationally, we’ll be able to give clients full-blown experiences.’
Zoe Kamman, senior travel advisor with Savanti Travel in Phoenix, said that her bookings have increased 40% year over year for events travel and that she’s currently working with On Location to get her clients to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Also keeping her busy are requests for Taylor Swift’s tour overseas.
“Taylor drove so much demand in key U.S. markets in 2023, and as she tours internationally, we’ll be able to help our clients who go to her shows with more than just tickets but full-blown experiences,” Kamman said. “For example, building an entire trip around the concert that encompasses cultural highlights and catering to special Swiftie experiences.”
‘There is an awakening within the travel industry about the importance of events.’
With this increased consumer demand and more tour operators, travel advisors and ticket sellers are seeing the value in working together, advisors like Kamman are bound to have an easier time packaging and selling Swift concerts, the Olympics and other experiences.
“There is an awakening within the travel industry about the importance of events,” Arival’s Quinby said. And that awakening has led to an “investment by the travel industry in technology and capabilities to be able to really service the sector in a way that just simply hasn’t been there.”
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