2023 has been ‘comeback year’ for spending on live events, says bank

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With panto season in full swing, 2023 has been a “comeback yr” for spending on reside occasions, in line with a serious financial institution’s evaluation of its prospects’ habits.

HSBC UK, which analysed prospects’ debit and bank card spending, mentioned the variety of transactions made for reside occasions greater than doubled within the month of August 2023, in contrast with the month of January 2020.

The typical buyer is presently spending between £50 and £60 monthly on reside occasions, with girls being extra probably to purchase tickets for reside occasions than males, the financial institution discovered.

HSBC additionally recorded a 117% rise in transactions for theatre productions, when evaluating the month of January 2020 with Might 2023.

A YouGov survey of greater than 2,100 individuals on behalf of HSBC UK in November indicated that individuals had been extra more likely to have reduce on garments buying (42%) than music festivals (15%) this yr, as households grappled with the cost-of-living squeeze.

Pella Frost, head of on a regular basis banking at HSBC UK, mentioned: “It’s implausible to see our prospects having fun with the return of reside occasions after the pandemic closed the curtain on a few of our favorite exhibits.

“It’s clear that, regardless of the present value local weather, customers actually worth these experiences, however we urge everybody to stay vigilant and at all times buy their tickets from official sources.

“Buy scams are on the rise, particularly at the moment of yr, so keep in mind, if the value is just too good to be true, it’s most probably a rip-off.”

Listed here are HSBC UK’s ideas for staying secure when shopping for tickets for reside occasions:

– Purchase tickets solely from the venue’s field workplace, official sellers or respected fan web sites.

– Don’t click on on social media, textual content or e-mail hyperlinks or attachments providing tickets, as they might hyperlink to fraudulent or malware web sites.

– Keep away from paying for tickets by way of financial institution switch.

– Test sellers’ privateness and returns insurance policies.

– Preserve receipts till after the occasion.