The ABBA Voyage show has contributed £2.06billion to the UK economy, as revealed by a new report. The virtual show, which featrues CGI reincarnations of the Swedish pop band, began in 2022 at the ABBA Arena in east London. It’s taking bookings until June 2026.
It has seen over three million visitors, of whom almost 18 per cent have travelled from outside the UK.
CEO for ABBA Voyage, Craig Hartenstine, has said, “As I begin my second year as Group CEO for ABBA Voyage, I’m thrilled that the report shows just how much the concert is making a difference, not only economically, with over £1.5billion contributed to London and more than £2billion across the UK, but also socially, through education and community programmes that are having a real, lasting impact.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Kham, said, “ABBA Voyage has been an absolute sensation, redefining the possibilities of a music concert and delivering a tremendous boost to our economy. Since it opened three years ago, it has drawn visitors from around the globe, filled restaurants and hotels, and given concertgoers an unforgettable night out.”
ABBA Voyage has contributed £2.06 billion to the UK economy between May 2022 and May 2025. ABBA Voyage has also enhanced employment opportunities for 9,739 annual workers in the UK; including those directly connected to the concert and those in other sectors which are supported by visitor’s spend e.g. hospitality and sales staff, chefs, hotel clerks.
Around £11 million of the wellbeing created by ABBA Voyage relates to who attented the event from London outside of the local area, with £2.1 million relating to attendees from the local area. Concert-related wellbeing benefits as well with visitors reporting improved wellbeing, reduced stress, increased cultural engagement, and strengthened social connections following attendance.
Speaking to NME in 2023, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus spoke about Voyage’s success as well as looking at the future of the production.
He said, “It’s amazing – it has surpassed any dream I could have ever had. We’ve somehow reached new generations by some miracle. I don’t know how, but there you are. [2008 musical movie] Mamma Mia, I suppose played a role in that. There are new generations coming along.”
He also addressed reported plans for the ABBA Voyage to be taken worldwide, saying, “We hope to stay in this venue for as long as we can. We hope they’ll have us for many years, and we might build other replicas of this in other places: Asia, Australia, North America. There are lots and promoters and cities that we’re talking to at the moment about that.”
The latest music from ABBA was released in 2021 accompanying ‘Voyage‘ album, including the new singles ‘I Still Have Faith In You’, ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, and ‘Just A Notion’.
