Have Tickets, Will Travel: Filipino Concert Tourism Takes Flight with Seamless Travel Tools

From Swifties who flocked to The Eras Tour to KPop stans chasing their biases, Filipinos are increasingly willing to travel overseas to see their favorite music acts.

Many combine these trips with vacations to fuel the growing trend of music tourism. A study by Expedia notes that 44% of the respondents would travel to take in a concert as an excuse to visit a new destination.

However, music tourism is an investment in itself. The costs of flights, accommodations, tickets, merchandise, and daily expenses add up, and concertgoers save for months, even years, to make it happen.

To protect this investment and allow Pinoys to focus on the experience of watching their idols live, finance superapp GCash offers a one-stop shop for Filipino travelers to simplify their journey. Within a single app, GCash enables users to purchase comprehensive and affordable travel insurance through GInsure and enables seamless overseas payments using the GCash card and Scan to Pay with Alipay+.

“Concerts are a once-in-a-lifetime experience and scoring tickets already takes a huge amount of effort and a significant budget,” said Wilfrido de Ocampo, General Manager of GInsure. “With comprehensive travel insurance and convenient payment options available in one app, we hope we can enhance their music journey by enabling them to focus on the experience, and not on worries.”

More Music, Less Mayhem

The influx of tourists at popular music venues and destinations can lead to challenges like jam packed flights and operational delays. GCash has partnered with trusted insurance providers Oona and Standard Insurance to protect unexpected travel expenses resulting from trip delays and cancellations, loss and damage to baggage, accidents, and illnesses.

“While securing tickets, flights, and accommodations are the top priorities, insurance might be an afterthought for some, until they run into issues and they end up regretting not having insurance to cover for all these hiccups,” said de Ocampo. “We’ve made it easy for Filipinos to purchase travel insurance in as little as 5 minutes, even 2 hours before your flight, through GInsure.”

Oona Smart Flight Delay Insurance offers instant lounge access for international flights delayed by more than 60 minutes, starting at just PHP 149. Standard Insurance Travel Protect International provides coverage for accidents, emergencies, and travel inconveniences for both domestic and international travel, starting at PHP 350.

As international artists fly to the Philippines, this is also replicated domestically, with Filipinos from all regions traveling to Metro Manila and other major cities. With premiums starting at PHP 103 for local travel, Standard Insurance Travel Protect Saver Plus provides coverage for accidents, emergencies, and travel inconveniences.

“Unlike the painstaking experience of having to score a ticket for an in-demand show, purchasing insurance on GCash can be done with just a few taps” de Ocampo added.

Users can buy  their travel insurance on GCash by accessing GInsure on the GCash dashboard and tapping ‘Travel.’ They can then choose their insurance product, read through the benefits and coverage, fill in the questionnaire and traveler details, and complete the payment using their GCash account – no need for physical documents.

Going Cashless for the Concert Craze

Concertgoers also deal with payments during the day of the event and their extended vacation. Long lines at concession stands, food establishments, and merchandise booths can be frustrating, especially when fumbling for cash, particularly foreign currency.

GCash makes this seamless as travelers can use GCash’s Scan-to-Pay feature in over 10 million stores powered by Alipay+, including retail stores, food establishments, groceries and convenience stores. One can scan the QR code or generate a code for the merchant to scan and once paid, have the option to view, download, and share the receipt, which shows the amount in both the Philippine Peso and the local currency.

Even without internet access, users can use GCash to tap and pay at groceries, restaurants, retail stores, and transportation. The GCash Visa card, connected to the user’s GCash wallet, doubles as a prepaid debit card, enabling concertgoers to pay at all 100 million merchants that accept Visa in the Philippines and overseas. The GCash Visa card can also be used to withdraw money from any Visa or BancNet ATM across 200 countries and territories.

To empower travelers to be on top of their expenses, GCash shows a user’s wallet balance in the local currency of their current country. Users will also receive real-time alerts after their transactions.

“We design our services to provide budget-conscious travelers with transparency and real-time updates about their transactions. On top of that, our zero service fee and low foreign exchange rate helps ensure one’s travel budget goes directly to their experience.” noted de Ocampo. 

Unforgettable concerts, no matter the destination, are a combination of thorough preparation, excitement, and a financial app that offers peace of mind. GCash aims to be every Filipino’s travel buddy, so they can forget the concert bumps and fully embrace the moment.

Ready to go on your next concert trip? Download the GCash App on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or Huawei App Gallery. Kaya mo, i-GCash mo!