NeMeSiS

ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

In the pre-Internet era one needed to wait in long queues and even to spend a whole night in front of the box office just to get one ticket for local or international events but as online ticketing gains popularity, all one needs for hot tickets these days is Internet access.
There is tough cyber competition between customers � especially for football match tickets � since only 10,000 tickets are available at most. It is estimated that the total volume of the ticket sales market is $10 million � including call centers, mobile phones, kiosks, ATM's and online ticketing.

$9.4 spent per ticket
The average amount of money paid by Turks per year is relatively low compared to other parts of the world. Turks paid only $9.4 in 2005 compared to $12.1 paid by Egyptians, $15.4 by Greeks, $323 by Russians and over $1,000 by Americans, according to a report by online ticket Web site Biletix in October 2005.
The Biletix report predicted that Turkey's ticket sales must amount to at least $68 considering that Turks spend $2.39 on CDs on average. In any case online ticketing as a developing market requires further investment.


�We sign deals with football clubs for three years, whereas only one-year deals can be signed with theaters. We sold approximately 1 million tickets last year and expect to sell the same amount this year,� said Gülseren Onanç, the largest shareholder of TicketTürk, one of Turkey's online ticket providers with a market volume of 20-25 percent.
�The growth of TicketTürk heavily depends on the growth of concept developers and organizers. However, there has been no remarkable growth in the sector within the last four years when we first started to operate. The market is occupied by oligopolies which does not allow new investors to enter,� she said.
Kemal Erdine, vice chairman of Biletix, said online ticket sales are a part of the entertainment industry.
�Similar to tourism agencies that promote plane tickets, we sell tickets for events. In doing so, the most important part of the job is done by professionals. As it costs a lot to sell tickets through call centers, Internet and ticket offices, not every organizer can afford the financial burden,� said Erdine.

'Biletix an example of administrative success'
Biletix was established by two Canadians, Dave Dorner and Ali Abhary, with the partnership of Turkey's largest conglomerate, Koç Group, at the end of 1990s. It was sold to an American entertainment ticketing and marketing company, Ticketmaster, in 2006.
�Biletix is an example of administrative success which has to be a lecture topic,� said Erdine.
KoçSistem and KoçNet provide technical infrastructure for Biletix, even though the partnership between the two companies came to an end couple of years ago. �Koç Holding has infrastructure investments in the field of information technology. Thus, Biletix does not fit with the strategy of Koç Group. Also, it became to our advantage to be transferred to Ticketmaster,� said Erdine.
Ticketmaster, which prefers not to change the company title in its service area, operates under the name of Biletix, which has become a benchmark in Turkey.
Biletix has two main rivals today. One is TicketTürk, established in 2004; the other is Reysaş-owned MyBilet that started to operate in 1999. Biletnet, which is mostly responsible from the sales of State Opera and Ballet's tickets, drags behind in the competition.


These companies sell tickets for cultural activities in general, such as cinema and concerts, as well as sports activities including football and basketball in particular. The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), İş Sanat Arts and Culture Center, Akbank Art Center, Borusan Culture and Arts (BKS) and Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, including some other companies that organize popular cultural events in different cities are the foundations that ticket companies mostly work together.
Turkey's biggest cities, Istanbul, İzmir and Ankara, provide the greatest demand for online ticket sales. The Aegean and Mediterranean coats also attract demand, especially in the summer. The online ticketing service will eventually grow as the number of activities in different regions increases.

Low demand for tickets to fairs
Biletix sold tickets for the Information Technologies Fair once as well as for the Boat Fair and the Automobile Show, said Semiray Karakoç Onur, director of retail sales and the call center at Biletix.
�The fair business in Turkey is something that we do not know well. But we can sell their tickets if they come with such a demand,� she said.
Besides, fair organizers in Turkey distribute several invitations, which make it unappealing for ticket companies to enter this market as there is not sufficient demand for them to make profit. Whereas in Europe, people follow fairs regularly and buy tickets several days in advance, said Erdine.
As the Turkish Competition Board (RK) does not allow deals longer than five years, most of the ticket companies have to sign one and/or two-year deals with the organizers, except ones like MyBilet, which is also responsible from the provision of software service to cinemas.

Prestige for the company
�State Opera and Ballet sells half of its tickets online. We don't charge a service fee but only small amount for technical infrastructure that we offer. This will be prestigious for our corporation. However, we cannot sell that amount of concert tickets as we sell in cinema and theaters sectors,� said Leyla Ünal, responsible of marketing department at MyBilet.


�MyBilet's annual ticket sales totaled 2.14 million last year, while the company reached 74 percent of this amount in the first four months of this year,� she said.
Having more than 40 ticket offices, Biletix aims to increase the number of box offices in tourist regions depending on the number of summer organizations. Some 60-65 percent of total tickets are sold at retail sale points.
Meanwhile, Internet sales cover 25 percent, while call center meets 15 percent of overall demand. Football matches meet half of annual sales, while other half comes from arts activities.
�The market volume is approximately 10 million when cinema tickets are excluded. We predict that three major ticket companies sell and distribute 45 percent of total tickets through online sale system,� said Onanç.
turkishdailynews.com

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