Coldplay’s November Auckland concerts sparks tourism boost

Domestic flight bookings to Auckland have almost doubled for next week ahead of the Coldplay concerts. Photo / NZ Herald

Domestic flight bookings to Auckland have almost doubled next week as Kiwis across the country head to the City of Sails for the Coldplay concert.

Bookings to Auckland between November 12 and 16 are up 87% compared to the same week in 2023, according to Webjet data.

A glance at Auckland’s events calendar provides a clear explanation; British rock band Coldplay are bringing their record-breaking Music Of The Spheres World Tour to Auckland.

Aucklanders won’t be the only ones filling Eden Park on November 13, 15 and 16.

Flight booking data suggests many Kiwis nationwide will fly in for the concert.

Eden Park commissioned a special mural for Coldplay's Music of the Spheres tour.

Hotel booking data tells a similar story. Hilton Auckland expects to be fully booked on November 13, 15, and 16 with hospitality data benchmarking company STR predicting demand to be heaviest on November 15.

The increase in flight and hotel bookings caused by the Coldplay concert indicates the power cultural events can have on tourism, said Webjet Group CEO Katrina Barry.

“The travel buzz in line with Coldplay’s shows highlights the rise of ‘tour tourism,’ as fans embrace concerts as the ultimate excuse for a getaway,” she said.

Barry said the company saw similar spikes earlier this year when Taylor Swift visited cities as part of her Eras Tour. The economic influence of Swift’s tour on host cities and nearby destinations people travelled from was coined ‘Swiftonomics’.

However, excitement about the economic boost was later debunked by economic experts.

Cities did see a measurable bump in spending during concert dates, especially within the hospitality industry. But past the excitement, the actual benefit was a drop in the bucket of a country’s economy.

“This extra turnover is a great weekend boost for Stockholm and in particular, its tourism sector,” Carl Bergkvist, the chief economist at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters.

“But it’s just that - a weekend, with no visible or significant impact on overall economic growth.”

This concert will be the first time Coldplay have performed in Aotearoa since 2016.

The band initially announced one show at Eden Park on November 13.

After more than 200,000 people were reported waiting in a digital pre-sale queue the day tickets were released, the band decided to add two additional shows.