Concert fever sends Vietnamese fans across Southeast Asia, with trips booked months ahead

Major concerts are fueling a surge in travel demand across Vietnam and Southeast Asia, with fans increasingly willing to cross borders to see their favorite stars, according to data from travel platforms Trip.com and Agoda.

Flight bookings to Hanoi for October 23-26 jumped 74 percent year on year, while those to Ho Chi Minh City for October 16-19 climbed 77 percent, Trip.com reported.

The spikes coincide with BIGBANG's 2026-27 World Tour in Hanoi and two popular Vietnamese concert productions, 'Tinh Ha Say Hi' and 'Anh Trai Vuot Ngan Chong Gai,' in Ho Chi Minh City.

Concert fever fills hotels, drives early bookings

In Hanoi, travel demand for October rose 45 percent, partly driven by BIGBANG's October 24-25 concerts at My Dinh National Stadium.

When early concert tickets went on sale on August 14, flight and hotel bookings surged to six times the daily average.

Hotels within three kilometers of the venue were reportedly fully booked as early as July 29, while reservations for October 23-24 soared to 15 times the month's daily average.

Fans are planning well ahead, booking flights an average of 70 days before departure and hotels 76 days in advance.

More than half of flight bookings and nearly two-thirds of hotel reservations were made at least 60 days ahead.

In Ho Chi Minh City, concerts on October 17-18 helped send hotel bookings for October 16-17 soaring 621 percent year-on-year.

From Bangkok to Singapore, fans travel for their idols

Vietnamese music fans are taking their concert experiences beyond national borders, increasingly planning trips to major entertainment hubs across Southeast Asia to catch international performances.

In Bangkok, travel platform Agoda recorded a 105-percent year-on-year surge in accommodation searches by Vietnamese travelers for November, ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026 final on November 14.

The event marks the first Asian edition of the 70-year-old Eurovision competition, attracting growing interest from regional travelers. India recorded a 43-percent increase in accommodation searches for Bangkok, followed by Malaysia at four percent, both trailing Vietnam's triple-digit growth.

For The Weeknd's 'After Hours Til Dawn' concert in Bangkok on October 11, travel bookings for October 9-11 reached seven times the month's daily average.

Fans booked their trips an average of 72 days in advance, compared with 49 days for other trips to Bangkok that month.

Demand was even stronger in Kuala Lumpur, where The Weeknd's November 4-5 shows pushed bookings for November 2-4 to nearly 22 times the daily average.

Travelers booked an average of 95 days in advance, compared with 86 days for other trips to the Malaysian capital.

BTS's upcoming 'Arirang' world tour is generating similar enthusiasm.

Trip.com data show that 88 percent of December bookings to Bangkok were concentrated on December 1-5, while 91 percent of bookings to Kuala Lumpur fell on December 9-12.

In Singapore, 73 percent of December bookings were concentrated on December 17-22, coinciding with the K-pop group's scheduled performances.

Fans are securing their trips remarkably early. By September, 49 percent of December bookings to Bangkok and 45 percent to Singapore had already been made.

The average lead time reached 112 days for Bangkok and 124 days for Singapore, roughly four months before departure.

The figures highlight how major concerts are becoming powerful drivers of regional tourism, boosting demand for flights and accommodation well before performers take the stage.

However, the figures are based on individual travel platforms' booking and search data and do not represent the entire concert tourism market.