Gujarat Tourism inks MoU with BookMyShow to scale live entertainment and strengthen the concert economy
- Rishi Garcher
- Oct 9
- 4 min read
In a landmark move to further strengthen Gujarat’s positioning as a premier destination for global live entertainment, BookMyShow, India’s leading entertainment destination, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gujarat Tourism. Supported by the Government of Gujarat, this partnership will facilitate world-class concerts and live experiences, leveraging the state’s robust infrastructure, cultural vibrancy and readiness to host large-scale entertainment events.
The MoU was formally signed at the Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference (North Region) by Ashish Hemrajani, Founder & CEO, BookMyShow and Shri Prabhav Joshi (IAS), MD, Gujarat Tourism, in the presence of Hon. Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendra Patel, Home Minister, Shri Harsh Sanghavi, Gujarat and Tourism Secretary, Shri Rajender Kumar (IAS).
Ashish Hemrajani, Founder & CEO, BookMyShow, said, “Gujarat has demonstrated tremendous capability in hosting world-class entertainment experiences, with state-of-the-art infrastructure, excellent connectivity and a proven ability to handle large-scale events seamlessly. Through this MoU, we aim to enable both Indian and international artists to bring immersive live experiences to the state, while catalysing tourism, cultural growth and economic opportunities. Ahmedabad, in particular, has proven itself as a global-ready concert city through its seamless handling of large-scale events and this partnership sets the stage for Gujarat to emerge as a strong cultural hub in India.”
Building on the momentum from Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour, the biggest concert of the 21st century in India, with over 222,000 attendees over two days in Ahmedabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium, produced and promoted by BookMyShow Live, homegrown successes like Rang Morla ft. Aditya Gadhvi during Navratri and the upcoming AP Dhillon ‘One of One’ Tour commencing in Ahmedabad on December 5th 2025, this MoU will facilitate the entry of more national and international acts into Gujarat, strengthen infrastructure, drive skill development and uplift the local ecosystem, further strengthening the state’s live entertainment ecosystem.
Coldplay’s concerts in Ahmedabad delivered a significant economic windfall, generating an estimated ₹641 crore in total economic impact, including a direct boost of ₹392 crore to Ahmedabad’s economy through accommodation, transport, dining and retail, while also contributing ₹72 crore in GST revenue to the Government of India. Through this MoU, BookMyShow Live and Gujarat Tourism will further strengthen Gujarat’s positioning as a hub for culture, tourism and economic opportunity, catalysing concert tourism while boosting allied industries such as hospitality, retail and travel. The collaboration reinforces Gujarat’s emergence as a global-ready cultural destination and a blueprint for integrating large-scale live entertainment into India’s growth story.
The partnership builds on BookMyShow Live’s efforts to scale India’s concert economy, following its MoU with Assam Tourism in June, which paved the way for international music icons such as Post Malone to perform in the Northeast for the very first time and Telangana Tourism in September 2025. With Gujarat joining this cultural momentum, the state is set to benefit from the rise of India’s next cultural boomtowns beyond the metros.
Over the past decade, BookMyShow Live has transformed India’s live entertainment landscape, bringing artists such as Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, U2, Maroon5, Guns N’ Roses, Post Malone, Backstreet Boys and global festivals like Lollapalooza India, unlocking the true potential of the concert economy and positioning the country as a key destination on the global live music map.
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About BookMyShow:
Launched in 2007, BookMyShow, owned and operated by Big Tree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (founded in 1999), is India's leading entertainment destination with global operations and the one-stop shop for every entertainment need. The firm is present in over 700 towns and cities in India and works with partners across
the industry to provide unmatched entertainment experiences to millions of customers. Over the years, the company has evolved from a purely online ticketing platform for movies across 7,000 plus screens, to end-to-end management of live entertainment events including music concerts, live performances, theatricals, sports and more, all accomplished at par with global standards. Some of the key properties that BookMyShow Live, the live entertainment experiential division of BookMyShow, has brought to its markets over the past few years include Lollapalooza India, Bandland, Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour, Ed Sheeran: +–=÷x Tour, Maroon 5, Guns N’ Roses, Backstreet Boys’ DNA World Tour, Post Malone’s debut India show at the Feeding India concert, U2’s The Joshua Tree Tour, NBA’s debut games in India, Disney’s Aladdin, Cirque du Soleil BAZZAR as also international artists such as Justin Bieber to name a few.
BookMyShow is invested in providing the best user experience, whether on-ground or online and to that effect, launched BookMyShow Stream, India’s largest home-grown transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) platform hosting award-winning and critically acclaimed content from around the world, complementing its cinemas business. BookMyShow also houses India’s most extensive organic reviews and ratings engine for movies and has driven technology innovations, such as the m-ticket and Movie Mode, impacting tens of millions of users and the industry at large. With continued support from marquee investors like TPG Growth, Stripes Group, Elevation Capital (formerly SAIF Partners), Accel and Network18, BookMyShow has constantly demonstrated category leadership, growing beyond India with operations in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, UAE and Sri Lanka. BookMyShow is also committed to society at large, by way of BookAChange, by BookMyShow Foundation, dedicated to enriching lives through the transformative power of music and the performing arts.
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