Specialist trade supplier Attraction World is planning to bring ‘gate-ready’ theme park e-tickets to visitors’ mobile phones later this year
Theme park tickets are coming to mobiles, says Attraction World
Specialist trade supplier Attraction World is planning to bring ‘gate-ready’ theme park e-tickets to visitors’ mobile phones later this year.
Although mobile e-ticketing has been available for some time, many major theme parks – such as Disney and Universal in the US – have yet to implement the technology at the turnstiles.
However, Attraction World says it is ready to trial the tickets and is in talks with a number of operators about bringing in the technology.
Tony Seaman, Attraction World managing director, said: “We have the technology, the problem is a lot of the companies, particularly the big American companies are way behind.
“We have had conversations with them and even offered the fund the whole thing. Putting readers at the gate is one thing but then they have to connect it with their own systems.”
Seaman said the UK was more advanced than any other market in terms of e-ticketing, leaving the demand for overseas parks to invest in the technology limited.
However, he believes parks will eventually catch up and Attraction World hopes to be in a position to start trials, probably with theme parks in Spain, before Christmas.
“With the growth of mobile, theme parks know this is where things are going and this will happen so it’s on their list of things to do,” Seaman said. “We have had meetings with major US theme parks and they have moved forward a lot on what they call ‘gate-ready’ tickets.
“These parks have massive infrastructures and for them to change is a huge task, but we are looking for some partners to work with on this.”
Attraction World claims to have been the first trade supplier in the UK to have developed e-ticketing for travel agents.
