Tickets and ticketing have undergone major changes in recent years due to advancements in technology. From physical paper tickets to mobile and digital tickets, the ticketing industry has evolved to meet the changing needs of consumers. Understanding the history and progression of ticketing provides context on the current state of ticketing and where it may be headed in the future.
The origins of ticketing
Tickets have been used to regulate entry to events and activities for centuries. Some of the earliest known tickets date back to ancient Greece and Rome where lead and bronze tokens were used to gain access to theaters and other spectacles. The first paper tickets emerged in the 1700s for events like fairs, lotteries, and even executions. Paper provided a cheaper and more convenient way to administer and regulate entry. The advent of the steam railway in the early 1800s saw the widespread adoption of printed and standardized paper tickets for travel.
Advancements in printing technology in the late 1800s enabled more complex and harder to forge tickets. Color lithography allowed tickets to become more decorative and elaborate. The American Bank Note Company became one of the first major commercial ticketing operations printing tickets for events and transportation.
In the 1930s the airline industry began issuing dedicated airline tickets. The standard Edmondson card stock ticket was adopted by most airlines and railways. These paper cards had details of the journey and passenger printed or handwritten on them. The card stock tickets remained in use until the 1960s when new computerized ticketing technology emerged.
The transition to computerized ticketing
In the 1960s, magnetic stripe technology opened the door to computerized ticketing. The stripes encoded ticket information that could be read electronically. This technology was first used by America’s National Airlines for airport boarding passes. The magnetic stripes allowed boarding passes to be printed and verified automatically. It became widespread across airlines, transit systems, and other venues in the following decades.
The 1970s saw the deployment of some of the earliest computer reservation systems by airlines and railway companies. Some of the first systems included Sabre by American Airlines, Apollo/Galileo by United Airlines, and Amadeus by Air France. These systems allowed electronic ticketing where ticket records were stored in a computer database rather than issued as physical artifacts. It enabled faster ticketing, rebooking, and improved access to reservation data.
Computerized ticketing reached a major milestone in 1994 when United Airlines offered the first entirely electronic airline tickets. These virtual tickets required no paper ticket at all. The passenger manifest functioned as the ticket document. By the early 2000s, most airlines phased out physical tickets in favor of electronic ticketing.
The proliferation of online ticketing
The rise of the internet in the 1990s and 2000s enabled the widespread adoption of online ticketing. Event organizers and transport operators began offering customers the ability to purchase tickets over the internet. Online ticketing provided greater convenience for customers and reduced overheads for vendors. Some of the first venues to sell event tickets online included Ticketmaster (1994) and the Sydney Opera House (1996).
The adoption of online ticketing was accelerated by the launch of major ticket marketplaces like StubHub (2000) and Ticketmaster-owned TicketsNow (2002). Large ticket vendors began allowing customers to sell and exchange unwanted tickets online. Electronic ticketing also opened up the ability for customers to print e-tickets at home removing the need to ship physical tickets.
The percentage of airline tickets purchased online rose from 0.5% in 1997 to over 50% by 2012. A similar rapid uptake was seen in online ticketing for events. By 2015, global online ticketing was valued at US$46 billion per year. The COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 onwards further accelerated adoption as venues moved online.
Growth of mobile ticketing
The spread of smartphones from the late 2000s enabled mobile digital tickets stored in apps or mobile wallets. Mobile ticketing provides added convenience for customers and reduces anti-fraud efforts from vendors. Leaders in mobile ticketing include Passbook by Apple, Google Pay, and dedicated apps from transport operators like Amtrak and airlines.
The adoption of smartphones has seen mobile ticketing become ubiquitous across most events and transport providers. A 2016 survey found that 64% of travelers in North America used mobile ticketing services. That figure is expected to rise to over 80% by 2025.
Year | Share of air travelers using mobile ticketing |
---|---|
2016 | 64% |
2025 | Over 80% (projected) |
Mobile ticketing provides benefits like reduced customer wait times, quicker passage through venues, and flexible rebooking/exchanges. It enables vendors to provide better experiences and capture more customer data.
Emerging ticketing technologies
Ticketing continues to evolve as new technologies emerge. Some key innovations that are shaping the future of ticketing include:
Biometric ticketing
Using biometric identification like fingerprints and facial recognition to validate tickets and entry. Airlines and stadiums are early adopters with widespread use expected by 2025.
Cryptocurrency payments
Enables ticketing purchases using cryptocurrency. Provides benefits like enhanced security, lower fees, and embedded programmability/automation.
NFT Ticketing
NFTs allow tickets to be tokenized on the blockchain providing transparency, traceability and built-in authentication. NFT tickets are an emerging niche use case.
AR/VR ticketing
Using augmented and virtual reality to provide more immersive and digital-first ticketing experiences.
These and other emerging technologies are driving further automation and digitization across ticketing. They enable more seamless, customized, and fraud-resistant experiences for customers. And provide vendors with richer customer data profiles.
Conclusion
Ticketing has undergone an enormous digital transformation from the days of paper tickets. The industry has constantly innovated to make use of leading technologies like magnetic stripes, computer databases, the internet, smartphones, biometrics, and blockchain. Today’s customers have more choice, convenience and flexibility than ever before.
The COVID-19 pandemic proved to be an accelerator towards fully digital and contactless ticketing. Venues were forced to rapidly adopt technologies like mobile ticketing and touchless entry. These shifts are likely to remain permanent facets of the new normal. Technologies on the horizon like AI, biometrics, VR/AR, and blockchain point to even more dramatic changes ahead. The ticketing experience of the 2030s may be unrecognizable compared to just 30 years ago. But the underlying foundation of using technology to regulate and manage access will remain at its core.