The potential for a centralised ticket booking facility to be set up for arts and cultural events taking place right across Scotland?s Highlands and Islands is being explored by Hi-arts, the arts development agency for the area, with the support of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Arts Council.
A feasibility study, being carried out by project consultants Catalyst Arts, is exploring the possibility of establishing a one-stop online and telephone booking resource to complement the current ticketing practices of arts organisations. The initiative hopes to enable promoters, festivals and venues to sell many more tickets in advance of events, rather than on the door. An online shop would be able to process credit and debit card transactions ? a service which can be provided by few arts organisations in the area at present, and enable much more information to be collected about audiences, to provide marketers with better knowledge on which to base their campaigns for promoting events and encouraging participation. The website would be particularly focussed on enabling the many tourist visitors to the area to make bookings for cultural events prior to their visits. Contribute to the debate about the project at http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/forum.htm
Published: 24-03-2003