TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Kaohsiung’s concert economy was up for an award at the Stadium Business Summit in the United Kingdom, reports said Wednesday.

Concert tourism at the city’s National Stadium was nominated for the Sponsorship, Sales and Marketing Award at the event in Manchester last month, per CNA. In the end, the Store of the Future at football team Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium won the prize.

Deputy Mayor Lee Huai-jen (李懷仁) addressed the summit and led a delegation to visit Manchester City football club’s Etihad Stadium, the O2 Apollo concert venue, and the Co-op Live arena in Manchester. The group headed to London to view Hyde Park and exchange views with executives at event organizer Live Nation and ticket distributor Ticketmaster Entertainment.

In 2023, Kaohsiung hosted 117 concerts with more than 1,000 attendees each, attracting a total of more than 1.39 million people, good for an output value of NT$4.5 billion (US$155 million), the city said. Last year, the number of similar concerts rose to 157, with 1.71 million people present and a value of NT$5.7 billion. The city expects to hold 140 concerts in 2025.

During recent years, Kaohsiung welcomed concerts by a wide range of national and international acts, including Blackpink, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Maroon 5, and Kylie Minogue.