Capitol Theatre Tamworth.
Digital Ticketing: Benefits Beyond Hygiene Gwen Luscombe explores how facilities and organisations implementing contactless ticketing are not just creating a safer, more hygienic environment, but also improving efficiency and profitability
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hile some industry operators might have been considering contactless technology for their future wish-lists, technology disruptors like TicketSearch (formerly Seat Advisor) are already offering next-generation software specifically to empower venues with an efficient and affordable way to streamline customer service and build stronger relationships. The TicketSearch solution was launched in November 2019, a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic forced venues to close their doors. Though the company might have looked like the ‘new kid on the block’, the ticketing platform was built over seven years, with input from hundreds of venue managers and box office staff across three continents. What did years of surveying patrons, customers, and venue managers reveal? The true event experience begins with the excitement of purchasing the ticket, but can fade quickly when 36 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 143
customers log onto clunky, outdated ticket platforms to buy their ticket from their phone. Fumbling with printed tickets, wasting time waiting in lines, and disconnected merchandise sales tracking left gaping opportunities for engagement untapped. And, in a post-COVID world, those gaps in the customer journey would leave many patrons concerned for their health and safety. Having challenged developers to build a mobile-first platform to streamline the customer experience, TicketSearch founder and President, Dennis Doulgeridis advises “we knew that patrons were craving a more interactive and simple system, but we didn’t know how fast it would be utilised by leisure venues to restore operations and a sense of safety.” Over the course of the pandemic, TicketSearch has adapted its technologies to support varying social-distancing requirements across different municipalities, contact tracing, and integrated hybrid events. The company has onboarded
