A new report revealed the 鈥榤usic tourism鈥 industry was worth 拢119 million to the West Midlands鈥 economy last year, with overseas music fans contributing 拢15 million.
A total of 809,000 鈥榤usic tourists鈥 visited the West Midlands in 2012, including 24,000 from abroad.
The Wish You Were Here report, by 海角视频 Music and Visit Britain, showed as much as 50 per cent of the region鈥檚 concert audiences were visitors 鈥 far higher than the national average of 41 per cent.
The importance of music to the economy was highlighted two weeks after figures issued by the NEC Group revealed a record-breaking year for the LG Arena and NIA, with profits up by 拢1.9 million for the year to March 31.
Emma Gray, director of marketing services at Visit Birmingham, the city鈥檚 leisure tourism programme, said: 鈥淥ur region has always had a rich music heritage, with the likes of UB40, ELO and Black Sabbath.
鈥淭his report confirms we are not only a great place to enjoy live music, but that new acts such as Laura Mvula and Peace are ensuring the West Midlands is firmly on the 海角视频 music map.鈥
The NEC figures showed a line-up of top acts, including One Direction, The Killers, Madonna, Jay Z, Muse and Justin Bieber, which helped the LG Arena and NIA, plus the NEC鈥檚 Ticket Factory business, amass profits of 拢5.6 million.
Over the 12-month period, the exhibition and live events business at the NEC Group welcomed almost four million visitors to its venues.
Nationally, the study identified that 6.5 million music loving tourists attended a festival or gig last year, generating total expenditure of 拢2.2 billion in the process.
The report said music tourism provides a huge boost to the 海角视频 economy, supporting at least 24,000 jobs each year.
