Beatles Tourism Up Worldwide

Photo by Jann Segal

With Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr both still performing live and giving tours, Beatles tourism is up both nationwide and worldwide. But any event related to the Fab Four is enough to get people on a plane to experience the inevitable closing of a remarkable era, and to take in as much as they can while it is still possible.

Aside from concert tours that have been scheduled in various parts of the US, South America, Asia and Europe, fans fly to the various Beatles Fests in Los Ageless most recently, as well as other Fests in New Jersey/NYC and Chicago. There was also a tremendous effort by fans to see the various events scheduled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show and their February 9th landing in New York. Liverpool Beatles tour guide Jackie Spencer even flew from England to New York on a British Airlines flight (formerly the old BOAC) that landed almost to the minute on February 9th as when the Beatles landed 50 years ago. There is also a Facebook group called Fans on the Run, which follows all these events closely. Many of the members follow the surviving Beatles and their now performing adult children to the different venues and report back with pictures and stories.

There are well-known sites that people hunt down in the US travels, such as Strawberry Fields and the Dakota in New York, or Blue Jay Way and Capitol Records in Los Angeles, but there are a few smaller haunts a well. One is located in Hermosa Beach, California, not that far from LAX. It is a vegetarian restaurant across the street from the beach called The Spot.  Paul McCartney ordered  a full vegetarian Thanksgiving meal for the band and crew from there in the late 80s when he was with Wings and performed in LA on Thanksgiving Day. They have a nicely sized personally autographed thank you photo of Paul McCartney and Wings in the tiny restaurant along with an article from the local newspaper that covered the event at the time.

Whether you like the Beatles or any other group, following your favorite pop star from location to location can be a great way to see the country and other parts of the world. In the time in between travel and seeing the shows or other events you have come to experience, you can take in the other sights the location has to offer. It doesn’t have to necessarily be about the Beatles the Stones, or any other group. It can just be a really great excuse to travel.