Tag Archive for: Ticketing

Gateway Ticketing Attends Euro Attractions Show

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Successful First Euro Attractions Show in Scandinavia

Approximately 7,000 visitors attend Europe’s leading conference and trade show for the attractions industry. Held in Gothenburg over three days (6 – 8 October) the European attractions industry was in Sweden to discover the latest developments in the amusement park and leisure industry. This conference and trade show is organised in a different European location each year.

In 2015 Euro Attractions Show (EAS) moved to the Scandinavian region (Gothenburg) for the first time. Karen Staley, Sr. Vice-President for IAAPA EMEA, stated:

“Going north was a good idea; EAS 2015 performed above expectations. The location of Liseberg right next to the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre provided attendees with a fully integrated park and Expo experience. This made the entire event inspiring, hands-on, and very enjoyable for all attendees.”

 

Trade show floor features variety of innovations

According to the initial reports, approximately 7,000 visitors attended the Expo in the second largest city in Sweden. They came from 96 countries with 30 percent from Scandinavia. Remarkable was the amount of visitors from Eastern Europe. In addition to visitors from the attractions sector, many attendees also represented campsites, shopping centres, water parks and family entertainment centres. No fewer than 408 companies exhibited their newest products for rides, attractions, ticketing and entry systems, 3D films, games, and much more on the 10,500 m2 trade show floor, making it the second largest show in the history of the event. There was a striking trend to interactivity and attractions combining several technologies. Examples of the latest technologies and products are slides combined with games and virtual reality glasses for roller coasters.

 

First fully park-integrated EAS trade show

EAS 2015 took place in the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre. Liseberg, one of the most well-known amusement parks in Europe with 3.1 million visitors per year, located directly across the street, was fully integrated in this years’ trade show. Not only the education sessions took place here, but also a backstage tour, special events, and evening events. Christian von Elverfeldt (Mack Rides, Germany):

“Gothenburg as host for the EAS 2015 was a great choice. The proximity to Liseberg extended the show floor and formed a great venue for the IAAPA events. We are honoured with great interest for our products during the show.”

 

Some social media reactions from visitors to this years’ event: “Lots of new connections”, “Liseberg was a perfect host”, “amazing Swedish hospitality”, “interesting and inspiring presentations”.

 

Inspiring seminars

Parallel to the Expo there was also an extensive educational programme with more than 30 hours of seminars. The interest in this programme was also overwhelming. Leading speakers from the industry shared their visions on topics including attractions management, revenue operations and profit generation, customer satisfaction, marketing, and leadership and developments in emerging markets . There were specialty day-long programmes for specific groups such as the IAAPA Institute for Attractions Managers, the IAAPA Safety Institute, the Young Professionals Forum, a forum for water park managers, and a symposium for family entertainment centres (FEC) and indoor arcades. Attendees also took part in excursions to a few parks in Sweden and Denmark where they had a look behind the scenes. Special events at Liseberg The Leadership Breakfast, featured a keynote address by Björn Ulvaeus, former member of the famous pop group ABBA, on intellectual property, had a capacity audience. The Opening Reception at Liseberg was also a huge success where attendees took the opportunity, besides riding the attractions and enjoying typical Swedish food, to network with colleagues.

EAS moves to Barcelona in 2016

Euro Attractions Show 2016 will take place at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via Convention Center, 20 to 22 September 2016. Industry professionals will gather here to discover the newest developments in the attractions industry. Many exhibitors have already booked their exhibit space to participate in this trade show. Additional information on EAS 2016 will available shortly at www.IAAPA.org/EAS

Houses of Parliament select Gateway for Ticketing Tours

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Gateway Ticketing Systems UK, the leading provider of ticketing, revenue management, and admission control solutions for visitor attractions in the UK and Ireland, has been selected by the Houses of Parliament to deliver the ticketing and sales solutions for the historic building’s commercial tours.

The Houses of Parliament is one of the leading attractions in London with over one million visitors each year, of which 260,000 pay to enter.

Amy Pitts, Head of Visitor Services and Retail at the Houses of Parliament said,

“The Gateway Ticketing Systems’ product has enabled more flexibility for our tour offering and will improve the visitor journey for ticket purchasing and visitor entry for tours.”

Gateway’s ticketing and sales solution has many advantages over the previously fully managed service which will benefit day-to-day operations and the guest experience:

  • improved upsell and package options
  • more sales channels
  • direct interfaces with tour operators
  • access to management information including booking profiles
  • direct integration to finance systems
  • access control software to make visitor entry more efficient
  • improved sales solutions

Commenting on the announcement, Andy Povey, Operations Director of Gateway Ticketing Systems UK, said,

“Being called in to work with the Houses of Parliament on their visitor sales systems and access ticketing solutions is a real win. We are proud to be working with such an iconic attraction providing behind-the-scenes support. The addition of the Houses of Parliament takes us to five key London locations within a half-mile radius.”

Kew Gardens selects Gateway’s Integrated CRM System

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Gateway Ticketing Systems UK has provided a new ticketing and customer relationship management (Gateway Insight CRM) system for Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Gateway Insight CRM system went live at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in April 2014 and has also been installed at Kew’s Wakehurst site in East Sussex. The improved CRM system gives a single view of the customer across its entire organisation. This enables Kew Gardens to easily keep track of its customers and ultimately to convert more day visitors into members.

In addition, Gateway Insight is also providing time and capacity controlled ticketing for Kew’s Pagoda. The Pagoda creates a new revenue stream for Kew and will increase visitor secondary spend.

Commenting on the announcement, Andy Povey, Operations Director at Gateway Ticketing Systems UK, said, “Kew is an iconic attraction that draws visitors from across the globe and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them on this exciting project. Gateway has many years’ experience in helping businesses improve their ticketing and CRM systems and we look forward to helping Kew increase their revenue and improve visitor satisfaction and loyalty.”

The selection of Gateway Insight by Kew for its integrated CRM underlines the company’s strong presence in the Museums and Heritage sector.

Gateway Insight CRM provides:

  • Seamless integration to the Gateway Ticketing System ensuring that all related purchase and usage information is available for action within CRM
  • A powerful, configurable workflow engine that allows for automation of visitor engagement tasks such as pre and post visit email generation and delivery
  • A powerful segmentation capability that allows for visitor groupings to be identified and addressed (e.g. An email to all people who have bought tickets last year but haven’t done so this year)
  • Seamless integration to Microsoft Outlook allowing for easy tracking of incoming and outgoing email conversations, and the conversion of emails into customer service cases
  • Seamless integration to online marketing solutions allowing for powerful, trackable email and social media campaigns to be planned, launched and tracked within CRM
  • Powerful data visualisation and list generation tools allowing authorised staff to display relevant metrics in real time; and
  • A highly configurable platform upon which to base all visitor and stakeholder management capabilities that an attraction may require to meet their specific needs

Gateway Insight CRM is hosted in the Microsoft Cloud (in the EU for European customers) and, hence, requires no IT resources from customers in order to use the service. The user interface is available within an internet browser, on mobile devices and directly from within a Microsoft Outlook client.

New Visitor Management System for The Roman Baths

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Gateway Ticketing Systems has added another prestigious world heritage site to its growing customer portfolio winning the contract to provide a new Visitor Management system at the Roman Baths in the historic city of Bath in Somerset, England.

Already providing visitor management systems to sites including Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle in Scotland, the Museum of the Acropolis in Greece, and the National 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York, USA, Gateway will be installing a new system for the Roman Baths, which in addition to this venue also covers the nearby Fashion Museum.

The Roman Baths allow visitors the chance to explore one of the greatest religious spas of the ancient world, while the Fashion Museum features a world-class collection of contemporary and historical dress. The visitor management system from Gateway Ticketing Systems will provide guests with the opportunity to buy tickets for both venues, either as individual or combined tickets. Each site will be running the company’s leading POS with online sales system for individuals, groups, and the travel trade, with print at home ticketing and flexible access control appropriate for use in a Grade 1 listed property.

Gateway is working with the Roman Baths team to plan the transition to the new system ensuring replication of the site’s existing reporting structures in order to support year on year comparisons while still allowing them to take advantage of the flexibility of the new system. Using Gateway Ticketing, attendance and sales data will be available in real time without the requirement for manual processes.

Commenting on the partnership with Gateway Ticketing, Patricia Dunlop, Commercial Manager for Heritage Services at Bath & North East Somerset Council said:

“We considered a number of ticketing and access control providers but decided on Gateway as the company to partner with at the Roman Baths. We believe that they can provide an excellent system and hardware but we also see them as a partner who could work with us to deliver an enhanced service to our visitors and, significantly, help us to increase revenues in the long term. We are confident our partnership with Gateway Ticketing will bring many benefits to the Roman Baths, in relation to the overall operation of the site and the customer experience provided.”

For Gateway Ticketing, UK Operations Director Andy Povey said:

“We are delighted to have partnered with the Roman Baths and to add them to our already impressive portfolio of World Heritage sites. With two sites involved in Bath, they will be making full use of both our package and upsell tools which have enabled other Gateway Ticketing customers to enjoy significant increases in revenues. The system will help to improve the visitor experience and operational activities and we look forward to working with Patricia and her team going forward to help them achieve a number of goals.”

Gateway UK provides the full range of Gateway’s world renowned revenue management solution for general admission ticketing at all venues within the attractions sector, including museums and galleries, heritage attractions and historic houses, zoos and gardens, theme parks, and events, as well as for those in the bus and ferry transportation sectors.

For information about the Roman Baths, visit Roman Baths & Fashion Museum.

For more information about ticketing and visitor management solutions, contact Gateway Ticketing on 0207 912 2022 or email sales@gatewayticketing.co.uk