GlobalTix currently lists over 80,000 products from 120 cities on its marketplace, and has a global distribution network of more than 2,000 travel partners including TripAdvisor, Voyagin, Ctrip and Expedia.
SINGAPORE – GlobalTix, a technology
provider for the tours and activities sector, has launched a new enterprise-grade
ticketing solution that can manage ticketing and ancillaries from a hybrid of
offline and online channels.
CEO Chan Chee Chong explained that the
company has grown from its early days as an e-ticketing platform managing sales from online distribution
channels.
The solution’s new features include onsite
capabilities at the attraction, from point of sales to self-service kiosks, RFID tickets, point-of-sales
and turnstiles, locker
rental and merchandising.
The solution is currently being used
by the newly-opened Nerf Action Xperience (NAX) arena in Singapore. The company is also working
to migrate National Gallery Singapore to its new solution by February next
year.
GlobalTix
currently lists over 80,000 products from 120 cities on its marketplace, and
has a global distribution network of more than 2,000 travel partners including TripAdvisor,
Voyagin, Ctrip and Expedia.
To entice more small- and medium-sized
attraction owners and niche operators to adopt its system, the company has also rolled out a new
monthly subscription for its cloud solution.
From US$39 a month, he believes it is
one of the cheapest in the market and has the potential to “truly disrupt the
market”.
Through the solution, niche operators can access a wider range of tourism
offerings such as food journeys, meditation classes and overnight squid fishing
experiences.
Building a GDS for tours and
activities
The new capabilities are a crucial
milestone in the Singapore-based company’s ambitions to become a global
distribution system (GDS) for the tours and activities sector.
Fuelled by a S$12.5 million investment
last November, the company aims to surpass its annual ticket transaction of S$150 million in the next few years.
“We’re growing well and achieving more
than double digit growth, and look to expand beyond South-east Asia into North
Asia. The next milestone will be one ticket every second, which we hope to
achieve in the next three years.”
Mr Chan predicts that the company is five years away from its ambition to run a
fully-fledged GDS marketplace for the tours and activities sector that will
enable agents and operators to seamlessly transact tickets over a single
platform.
“The time will come when the market
fully understands the need for a GDS in this sector. And when that time comes,
it’s will be similar to how hotels are using at least channel management system,”
he said.
Dynamic pricing
With digitalisation, Chan expects that
pricing in tours and activities could become “more dynamic” in the future.
“It will not be as dynamic as what
we’re seeing with hotels and airlines, because I think consumers are not ready
to accept such dynamic fluctuations in attraction ticket prices.
“But what will change
is that there will be more nuance in the way attractions segment their rates
according to countries, peak evening and weekend times. Attractions can, for
example, implement new business rules that state different entry times between Indonesian
FIT travellers and Indonesian group travellers.