Members of Roxo Crew, a Singapore-based dance group specializing in K-pop covers, perform GFRIEND’s “Rough.” / Courtesy of Roxo Crew
SINGAPORE — On a lively weekend afternoon beneath Marina Bay Sands, there is no stage, no spotlight and no audience in the conventional sense. Still, familiar music fills the underground concourse.
A group of teenage girls moves in sync to rookie K-pop girl group Hearts2Hearts’ “Focus,” counting beats under their breath. A few meters away, another dance team rehearses choreography to TWICE’s “Feel Special,” adjusting their formation as shoppers pass by. No one appears surprised.
Scenes like this now unfold routinely across Singapore, not only in landmark spaces but near everyday malls and underground transit corridors. During a recent visit, pop-up stores dedicated to K-pop operated by major Korean labels like SM Entertainment appeared alongside cafes, fashion and lifestyle brand stores, drawing steady foot traffic.
What emerges here is not a city hosting a temporary cultural event, but one in which K-pop has settled into daily life. As that presence becomes more visible across shared urban spaces, it has also begun to shape how Singapore positions itself as a destination for live entertainment.
That shift comes into focus later this year, when K-pop juggernaut BTS brings its upcoming world tour to Singapore for four nights in December, marking one of the group’s longest stops in Asia.
The concerts reflect a partnership between the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and HYBE and its affiliated labels that has been in place since 2024.
“Building on the collaboration, we are delighted to host BTS’ four-day concert series in Singapore this coming December,” Serene Tan, STB’s executive director for North Asia, said to The Korea Times in a written interview.
As large-scale concerts become more frequent, tourism authorities in Singapore have described their role as “facilitative” rather than directive.
“Our core role is to connect partners, showcase Singapore’s hosting capabilities and support the ecosystem needed to deliver major international events,” Tan said.
BLACKPINK performs during their “BLACKPINK WORLD TOUR ‘DEADLINE’ IN SINGAPORE” at Singapore National Stadium on March 30. The group is the only K-pop act to have headlined the venue twice. Courtesy of YG Entertainment
How K-pop thrives in Singapore
The concerts arrive amid a broader surge in K-pop’s presence across the city-state.
Singapore has seen strong post-pandemic growth in the K-pop concert scene, a trend STB expects to continue. Ticketmaster listings for K-pop events in Singapore increased by about 250 percent between 2022 and 2024, reflecting both fan demand and industry confidence.
Recent years have also brought a series of sold-out shows.
K-pop act Seventeen filled Singapore National Stadium for two nights in January 2025, while boy bands TXT and ENHYPEN sold out the Singapore Indoor Stadium in September 2024 and October 2025, respectively. BTS members have also returned individually, with Suga performing in 2023 and J-Hope in 2025.
Beyond attendance figures, industry executives increasingly frame K-pop concerts as economic engines. A senior executive at HYBE Labels noted that a single BTS concert can generate economic impact equivalent to roughly 68 percent of that produced by a locally hosted Winter Olympics.
Singapore’s appeal lies in its capacity to handle events of that scale. The city’s infrastructure, regional connectivity, safety record and range of accommodation have positioned it as a reliable host for extended concert runs.
Aerial view of the Singapore National Stadium, located next to the Kallang Basin and reservoir / gettyimagesbank
That physical readiness has increasingly been paired with a shift in how the destination is presented.
“In response to evolving consumer trends, particularly the increased consumption of digital media and entertainment, STB has been leveraging branded entertainment partnerships and collaborations with global celebrities to spotlight Singapore in more engaging and organic ways,” Tan said.
Those collaborations span music, film, television and digital content, tapping into what tourism marketers describe as the “set-jetting” phenomenon.
“By leveraging the ‘set-jetting’ trend where travellers are inspired to visit locations by their favourite artists, these projects increase consideration for travel to Singapore,” Tan said. Singapore’s appearance in BTS member Jin’s recent music video “Don’t Say You Love Me” offers one recent example of that approach.
For STB, K-pop’s value lies not only in scale, but in narrative reach.
“K-pop and Korean content hold tremendous global influence and offer strong storytelling potential,” Tan said, adding that Singapore aims to collaborate with more artists on content-driven projects that inspire travel.
“This is aligned with our ambitions to be the region’s premier leisure events hub.”
What gives the strategy its context is that it unfolds alongside a visible, everyday culture that exists beyond programming. Dancers rehearsing in public plazas and fans moving between pop-up stores and cafes point to a cultural landscape already in motion, one that did not originate from tourism campaigns.
Rather than manufacturing demand, Singapore’s initiatives appear parallel with this street-level reality. As K-pop continues to occupy ordinary spaces as well as large-scale concerts, the city-state’s emergence as a live entertainment hub looks less like a calculated pivot than an alignment between a global industry seeking scale and a city where the culture has already taken root.
