Tour Routing
Strategic planning of tour dates and locations to maximize revenue while minimizing travel costs and logistical complications across multiple markets.
Definition
Tour routing involves mapping concert dates geographically and chronologically to create efficient travel patterns that reduce transportation costs and crew fatigue. Effective routing considers venue availability, market demand, and regional promotional opportunities.
Successful routing balances revenue maximization with practical logistics, ensuring adequate rest days, minimizing backtracking, and clustering dates in profitable regions while building audience development in emerging markets.
Why It Matters
Efficient tour routing can significantly impact profitability by reducing travel expenses, which often represent the largest cost component of touring operations. Poor routing can turn profitable individual shows into money-losing tours.
Strategic routing also affects marketing efficiency, allowing concentrated promotional efforts in specific regions and building momentum as tours progress through connected markets with coordinated media campaigns.
Examples in Practice
Arena tours typically follow geographical clusters, playing multiple nights in major markets like New York and Los Angeles while routing efficiently between cities to minimize daily transportation costs and crew burnout.
Club tours often route in circles or lines across regions, playing 4-5 consecutive dates within driving distance before moving to the next regional cluster for sustained local promotion.
Festival routing connects summer events across continents, with artists booking club dates between major festival appearances to maximize revenue during peak touring season while maintaining efficient travel patterns.