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Significant investment in ticketing technology is needed at major attractions such as theme parks, zoos and museums if they want to adapt to new distribution opportunities and meet consumer expectations, according to a report from tourism insights business Arival.

The report, Ticketing Tech: The State of - and Outlook for - Attractions Technology and Distribution, pointed to a lack of attention and investment in large attractions, which capture the majority of travellers’ in-destination time and spending. The report notes that currently, all the support is focused on the smaller, independent suppliers and vendors that serve the big attractions.

Arival also found that consumers are looking for seamless digital experiences, which in turn is putting pressure on major attractions to update ticketing systems to allow for mobile access, real-time inventory data, third party integrations, among others.

The report advises “in some respects, the ticketing technology sector today is comparable to hotel-industry technology of 10 or even 15 years ago. However, a shift is underway. The attractions industry is inching toward cloud-based systems and connectivity for distribution and other third-party systems. New entrants are stepping into the sector, and consolidation and investment among established players are bringing much-needed change.”

Through interviews with more than 12 companies, Arival identified several themes framing the future of ticketing technology for major attractions.

These include the fact that most attractions use on-premise technology that has been highly customised to meet its unique needs, making change difficult.

It also points to a reluctance within the industry to embrace new ticketing systems due to concerns about reliability of the technology, predictability of costs and complexity of making a change.

Commenting on the report’s implications Luke Finn of ROLLER advised “in this day in age, customers expect a great online checkout experience.

“If the experience is not mobile friendly, or the flow is slow and clunky, this makes people frustrated and ultimately leads to a decrease in conversions ... customers are willing, wanting and trying to buy,  but lose interest whilst trying to hand over their money.

“Traditionally, what we have seen in the market, is that ticketing vendors are investing heavily in the backend, customised systems, but not investing in helping to improve the guest experience or the purchase flows.

“Vendors that have on-premise and dated systems, are restricted by their ability to innovate in this area, and the attraction operators are inevitably suffering as a result.

“Attractions should be investing in ticketing platforms that are continually focused on reducing the friction in the customer purchase process.”

Darrell Campbell, Managing Director of CustomLinc added “at the enterprise level, every business is unique. Operators need to implement systems that allow them to deploy innovations at every level of the business from marketing to ticketing, operations and finance. This will drive the increase in revenue and the cost savings they are looking for."

Images: Disney's MagicBand technology (top, courtesy of Disney Resorts) and ROLLER's self-serve kiosk (below, courtesy of ROLLER).

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