Music is not just good for the soul – it’s good for the economy.

A new report ha revealed that the ‘music tourism’ industry was worth an incredible £119 million to the West Midlands economy in 2012, with overseas music tourists contributing £15 million to the total.

Music tourism is the act of visiting a city or town, to see a music festival  or other music performances. The Wish You Were Here report, by UK Music and Visit Britain, also shows that an incredible 50% of West Midlands concert audiences are music tourists – far higher than the national average of 41%. Figures also show the region welcomed 809,000 music tourists in 2012, of which 24,000 were from abroad.

Emma Gray, Director of Marketing Services at Visit Birmingham, the city’s leisure tourism programme, said “Our region has always had a rich music heritage, with the likes of UB40, ELO and Black Sabbath; this 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 UK music map.”

Nationally, the study identified that 6.5 million music loving tourists attended a festival or gig last year, generating spend of £2.2 billion in the process. The study reveals that tourists at live music events not only add billions to the UK economy but offer astounding regional tourism benefits, motivating Britain-wide travel. Music tourism provides a massive boost to the UK’s nations, regions and local economies, including at least 24,000 jobs each year.