With Lady Gaga set to take the stage for four exclusive shows in Singapore in May, Indian travelers were among the top five global markets searching for accommodation in Singapore during this period, according to online travel platform Booking.com.

Singapore will be Lady Gaga’s only stop in Asia during her latest world tour, and according to the platform, fans from across Asia-Pacific are heading for the concert.

According to Booking.com’s search data for the week after the announcement of ticket sales, there was a 20% increase in accommodation searches for Singapore during the concert period from Indian travelers. While fans from Australia are leading the travel search to Singapore for the concerts, India is second followed by Singapore, Taiwan, and the UK.

The trend has also been observed by other travel platforms. 

“Our data indicates a strong travel demand for upcoming music events, such as the Lady Gaga concert in Singapore. Routes from major metros like Delhi, Mumbai, BengaIluru, Chennai and Hyderabad are witnessing strong demand, with average roundtrip airfares ranging at approximately INR 36,000 ($420) from Delhi, INR 27,000 ($315) from Mumbai, and INR 26,000 ($305) from Bengaluru for bookings made 15 days in advance,” Rajeev Kale – President & Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa – Thomas Cook (India) Limited told Skift.

Last year, Taylor Swift’s six-night sold-out concert run in Singapore, between March 2 and March 9 last led to the city-state recording 1.48 million visitor arrivals and experts projected tourism receipts of SGD 500 million ($373.5 million).

The Trend of Music Tourism: Music tourism is a growing trend in India. Skift had earlier reported that concerts such as Bryan Adams, Coldplay, and music festivals like Lollapalooza were driving travel among Indians. They were also traveling internationally to see their favorite musicians live.

During the online travel platform MakeMyTrip’s earnings call in January, Group CEO Rajesh Magow pointed to rising demand for tourism fueled by large-scale concerts and events, in line with Skift’s Megatrends for 2025. While Coldplay’s concerts in Mumbai earlier this year saw approximately 75% of attendees traveled from outside the city, Magow said that the trend extends beyond domestic borders, with MakeMyTrip recording high demand for international events, such as the Coldplay concert in Abu Dhabi.

“Music concerts are becoming an exciting reason to travel, and we are seeing a strong uptick in interest from our customers over the past year,” said SD Nandakumar – President and Country Head – Holidays and Corporate Tours at SOTC Travel Limited. He added that the trend gained significant momentum from traveler segments like Millennials and GenZ, multigenerational families, couples, working professionals, and adhoc group of friends eager to travel to witness their favorite artists perform live. 

At the Skift India Forum last month, Daniel Dsouza, Co-Founder of DreamSetGo, said that live tourism is “exploding.” “It is a combination of young India trying to imbibe the pop culture that is happening around the world. It has more to do with people spending a lot of time digitally on their devices, and I think it gives an opportunity for people to connect with others.”

Indians are also combining concert-driven trips with other local experiences, said Kale. “Travelers are including local experiences to their itinerary such as like Universal Studios, Singapore Flyer, Minionland, The Ice Cream museum, Night safaris and shopping”

Nandakumar also noted a trend of adding other destinations: “What is interesting is that travelers are extending their holidays from mono-destination to multi-destination itineraries – extending their holidays from Singapore to Malaysia and Thailand; also nearby island locales like Bintan and Sabah. Additionally, Singapore-Malaysia cruises are witnessing a spike in customer interest.”

IndiGo Expands Business Class Service to More Routes

Budget airline IndiGo is launching its business class product ‘IndiGoStretch’ on the Delhi-Hyderabad and Delhi-Chennai routes later this month. With this, there will be four domestic routes where the business class product will be in service, including Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Bengaluru. 

Internationally, IndiGoStretch is offered on the Delhi-Bangkok route. The airline said that by the end of the year, 45 aircraft with IndiGoStretch will be inducted to its fleet. 

The airline introduced the service last year. During the announcement, CEO Pieter Elbers said that there was an increasing demand for premium travel in India, and expressed confidence that the new offering would cater to the needs of corporate travelers.

At the Skift India Forum last month, Elbers said that the venture into business class was in order to adapt to the changing preferences of India, even as the airline will continue to compete by budget price points too. “Maintaining cost leadership is important for us. Every step we take is keeping that in mind, because if we don’t, we would be out of business,” he said. 

Radisson Debuts Radisson RED Brand in South India

Radisson Hotel Group has signed a Radisson RED hotel in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The 111-key property will mark the debut of the brand in the South Indian region. Across India, this will be the fourth Radisson RED-branded hotel. 

Radisson RED is the hotel chain’s upper upscale lifestyle brand, and aims to cater to business and leisure travelers. 

The hotel chain is expanding across India and plans to expand its portfolio to 200 hotels by 2027. Its current development and operational portfolio includes 199 hotels. Radisson will focus on increasing its presence in new tourist and business destinations in Tier-3 and 4 cities. 

India’s Push for Indigenous Payments System on Global Scale

The Indian government has asked the international financial watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to ease compliance rules for cross-border payments made through India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), according to news agency Reuters. With UPI dominating India’s digital payments, India is trying to increase the use of the payment interface by Indians travelling abroad. 

However, compliance requirements on smaller cross-border payments is hampering UPI’s expansion. According to the government, payments made via networks such as Visa, Mastercard, and SWIFT are not subject to these requirements. 

Air Passenger Traffic to Grow 9% Annually by 2027 Fiscal

The air passenger traffic in India is likely to grow at 9% annually between the 2024-25 fiscal year and 2026-27 financial year, according to ratings agency CareEdge. It projected that passenger volume will reach 485 million by the 2027 fiscal. 

During this period, international passenger traffic in India is likely to grow at a faster pace. The induction of wide-body aircraft by Indian carriers by the 2026 fiscal year will support the growth of international traffic.

CareEdge had earlier estimated that by the end of the 2025 fiscal year, passenger traffic would reach 425 million. However, adverse weather conditions and delayed delivery of aircraft is likely to impact the growth, and the agency’s revised estimates said that the passenger traffic increased by 4% during the year to reach 410 million. 

IHCL Signs Taj-Branded Property in Gujarat’s Palitana

Indian Hotels Company has signed Palitana Palace as its new Taj-branded property in Palitana, Gujarat. The 65-key property will be IHCL’s 29th hotel in the state, including 10 more properties in development. 

The move is a part of IHCL’s efforts to expand its portfolio of palaces, havelis, and forts in order to capture the growing preference for cultural and heritage experiences among travelers, including inbound tourists. 

A recent report by Skift Research stated that cultural and culinary tourism are India’s biggest inbound revenue drivers, with 59% of travelers prioritizing cultural heritage. “The data show that experiences like visiting UNESCO sites, street food tours, and immersive cultural performances drive strong traveler interest,” Skift’s Research Manager Varsh Arora said in her report.