Resources2026 Travel Trends: Fandom Tourism
... Why Some of This Year’s Most Valuable Travellers are the Ones Obsessed with Something
As we explored in our global Travel Trend Report, the travel landscape of 2026 is being shaped by a powerful shift: travellers are no longer motivated by passive sightseeing, but by deep passion, fandom affinity and identity-driven travel choices. From anime pilgrimages to collectable-focused trips, 'culture as currency' has become one of the strongest forces influencing global travel demand.
For travel distributors, this cultural shift represents high-intent, high-spend customers who plan purposefully, book early and travel widely for niche interests. Below, we explore the key fandom-driven segments reshaping travel demand and the opportunities they create.
Global Tourism Drivers: Anime Pilgrimages, 'Hallyu', and East Asian Media
While recent years have seen a boom in set-jetting and screen tourism, anime, manga, K-drama and C-drama inspired travel is increasingly moving into the mainstream.
These media forms have long motivated dedicated fans to travel, but growing interest in East Asian culture across Western markets is turning fandom travellers into a significant tourism audience. Destinations connected to popular entertainment franchises are now recognised as major travel catalysts, driving both visitation and spending.
South Korea: K-Pop and K-Drama Tourism Surges
Inbound tourism numbers reached a staggering 18.9 million for South Korea in 2025, with foreign card spending surpassing 2 trillion won for the first time... in May of that year alone. While international interest in South Korean popular culture (termed 'Hallyu') has been making waves for years, global attention is now being paid in earnest with a sharply rising demand for this destination driven largely by K-Pop, K-Dramas and lifestyle exports like K-Beauty.
Popular K-Drama locations including Bukchon Hanok Village, Gangnam COEX and Naksan Park have seen tourist spending increase by more than 50% in some cases. At the same time, visitors are increasingly seeking immersive lifestyle experiences. Notably, tourist spending at instant photo booths rose 65%, internet cafés 36%, karaoke rooms 18% and nail salons 17%, highlighting rising demand for authentic, ‘everyday’ cultural experiences.
K-Pop remains a major economic force, with a global fandom of more than 156 million people and contributing at least 0.3% of Korea's GDP. According to Billboard's 2025 year-end Boxscore, K-pop achieved its highest-ever tour revenue penetration, accounting for 7.7% of the top 100 global tour grosses.
This is evident in the industry's consecutive global successs: ENHYPEN 2025's performance broke BlackPink's 2023 Coachella record with over 400,000 livestream viewers—making it the second-highest livestream viewership in Coachella history; J-Hope of BTS shattered records with his recent "Hope on the Stage" solo world tour, grossing $84.7 million and selling out all 33 shows, becoming the highest-grossing tour by a Korean soloist in history; and Stray Kids' dominATE world tour attracted more than 2.15 million attendees across 53 shows worldwide, breaking K-pop touring records.
With BTS returning to the road for their 2026/27 comeback tour, the sector is poised to generate even greater visitor growth and spending.
Set-Based Tourism and Anime Pilgrimages
Japan welcomed around 14 million international visitors arriving during the first four months of 2025 alone, representing a further 24.5% increase on 2024—which was the highest level of inbound tourism ever recorded for the country.
These visitors contribute significantly to anime-related spending through merchandise purchases, pilgrim site visits, theme parks and exhibitions. In fact, the Japan Tourism Agency has reported that the proportion of visitors travelling specifically to anime and film-related locations has reached 7.5% in recent years.
This phenomenon, known as seichi junrei ("pilgrimage to sacred places"), has transformed real-world locations into fan destinations. For example, fans of Attack on Titan, the global anime phenomen often travel to Hita City as the home of creator Hajime Isayama, and which offers in-destination attractions to commemorate the series.
But the trend extends past Japan. In China, Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang, often referred to as "China's Hollywood", serves as the filming location for around 70% of the country's historical and wuxia dramas and consistently attracts millions of visitors annually. International fans are also increasingly making pilgrimages to destinations featured in or which formed the inspiration for popular C-Dramas, Light Novels and donghua, including Yunnan Province and Suzhou; while in Shanghai, the city is regularly overrun with sprawling advertisement banners and time-limited pop-ups for popular characters birthday events and series announcements.
Key Opportunities for Travel Distributors
Travel distributors can capitalise on growing demand by:
Packaging itineraries built around anime, K-pop, K-drama and C-drama locations.
Aligning travel offers with concert schedules, fan events, drama releases and cultural festivals.
Creating themed multi-city routes built around specific on-screen locations or media inspirations, to increase engagement and trip value.
Access a comprehensive global portfolio of accommodation options, in-destination travel experiences and transfer solutions by signing up to become a Hotelbeds partner.
Collectable Tourism: When Products Become Travel Motivators
Collectables are increasingly acting as travel catalysts rather than simple souvenirs. Today's fans travel specifically to acquire products that offer exclusivity, status and social currency.
The Labubu Effect
Since its launch, the viral POP MART collectable Labubu has blurred the boundaries between fandom, retail and travel, while generating billions in revenue in the process. Destination-based campaigns, tourism collaborations and regional product launches have fuelled extraordinary consumer demand for this item far beyond its initial scope.
The strength of this demand is reflected in the resale market, where rare figures can command thousands of dollars. In fact, one life-size Labubu sold for more than US$170,000 at auction in 2024, reinforcing its status as a high-value cultural symbol rather than simply a toy.
Pokémon: the 'Gotta Catch 'Em All' Mindset
For nearly 30 years, Pokémon has extended beyond entertainment into travel experiences, exclusive merchandise, in-destination attractions, conventions and fan events. Today, enthusiasm for the franchise continues to accelerate.
Pokémon Centers in Japan, particularly Tokyo DX, Osaka DX and Shibuya, remain key tourism draws thanks to region-exclusive products, café experiences and limited-edition releases, with product launches regularly generate long queues and selling out immediately.
The wider economic impact is significant. Recent editions of Pokémon GO Fest New York generated approximately $127 million in economic impact, while time-limited collaborations with major attractions, including London's Natural History Museum and Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, have generated such overwhelming crowds that in some cases these locations to close to cope with demand.
Considered together, both these examples demonstrate how collectables and franchises have evolved into experience-led, destination-driven consumption. Fans are highly-motivated, and increasingly travelling specifically to access exclusive merchandise and limited-time experiences unavailable in their home markets.
Café Pop-Ups and Pop-Culture Conventions
Whether its visiting themed cafés, merchandise pop-ups or fan-organised gatherings, travellers are increasingly planning entire trips around fandom experiences. Far from niche experiences, café collaborations and exhibitions are a core part of fandom tourism.
Of course, this shift to immersive experiences is noted worldwide—cultural experiences account for around 40% of global tourism revenues, and more than 70% of travellers participate in at least one cultural activity per trip. Such pop-ups align with this shift because they combine storytelling, retail, food and social interaction within a highly shareable format.
Importantly, fans rarely discover these events by chance. They track launches months in advance via social media, monitor collaborations closely via dedicated online fan spaces, and organise travel around specific dates, building itineraries that, often, prioritise emotional payoff over cost or distance.
While it may not be practical for distributors to package every individual event, offering competitive accommodation and transport options in popular host destinations can help capture this highly motivated audience.
Conventions provide similarly powerful travel demand. Anime Expo in Los Angeles recently welcomed more than 410,000 attendees from over 65 countries and generated an estimated $10 million in economic impact, making it one of the year's most significant tourism events in the United States.
Likewise, global events such as the annual Comic Con conventions in San Diego, New York, London and Tokyo continue to attract hundreds of thousands of international visitors annually, with many more growing conventions held year-round across the world. Rising attendance figures and growing international participation demonstrate how fandom tourism has moved beyond niche status to become a mainstream travel motivator.
Music Tourism: The Heartbeat of Fandom Travel
Music tourism remains one of the most powerful segments within fandom travel, driven by travellers seeking emotional, immersive experiences connected to their favourite artists.
In 2025, the global music tourism market was valued at $103.7 billion and is forecast to reach US$330 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 15.8%. North America accounts for almost 38% of global revenue, while travellers aged 18-34 generate 64% of market spend, underlining the importance of younger audiences.
Destinations hosting major tours frequently experience dramatic travel demand spikes, with hotel and flight searches rising by more than 90% around event dates.
The economic impact can be transformative. Taylor Swift's Eras Tour generated more than $1 billion in revenue across over 150 shows and pushed hotel occupancy rates in some destinations to 100%. Bad Bunny's San Juan residency produced a sevenfold increase in flight searches, drew in 400,000 visitors to the island, and injected around $200 million into the local economy.
Other artists are creating similar opportunities. Queer Destinations, who launched the Travel Conscious Platform in partnership with HBX Group, offer curated packages for Shakira’s Madrid residency. The packages combine concert tickets with stays at "Committed" hotels where 100% of staff have completed LGBTQ+ sensitivity training, appealing to value-driven travellers seeking inclusive travel experiences alongside major entertainment events.
Key Opportunities for Travel Distributors
As fandom travel becomes increasingly mainstream, distributors can create products around the destinations, events and experiences fans actively seek:
Build fandom-led itineraries featuring anime and manga locations in Japan, K-pop concerts and K-drama sites in Korea, and C-drama studio visits in China.
Develop exclusive fan experiences through partnerships with brands, entertainment companies and attractions to create premium, limited-access packages.
Capitalise on collectable-driven demand by building trips around regional product launches, exhibitions, pop-ups and brand collaborations.
Leverage major fan events such as anime conventions, esports tournaments, K-pop festivals, comic conventions and collectable fairs, all of which generate predictable booking spikes.
Use fandom-focused marketing tied to trending franchises, viral merchandise and cultural moments to capture travel intent as it forms.
With global accommodation, transfers, activities and destination services available through a single platform, Hotelbeds, as part of HBX Group, enables distributors to package, scale and monetise fandom-driven travel experiences efficiently.
Fandom Travellers Are a Power Segment
Today's fandom traveller is highly motivated, deeply informed and often willing to travel long distances and pay premium prices to express their identity through travel.
For travel distributors, this represents one of the most valuable opportunities in the modern tourism economy. Whether travelling for a K-pop concert, anime pilgrimage, collectable launch, convention or music event, these travellers are purposeful consumers who book around specific experiences, spend more in destination and actively seek curated, premium offerings.
Far from being a niche audience, fandom travellers have become a powerful and growing segment shaping the future of global travel.
Discover more trends like this in our Trend Report for Travel Distributors, which unpacks global tourism trends shaping the industry, and how distributors can actively tap into these travel behaviours.
