Ticketing outfit to seek new horizons
AN online ticketing business started in Townsville is going international with agreements to establish in Fiji and New Zealand and plans to operate in Singapore.
Already, Local Tickets Pty Ltd operates in more than 50 centres around Australia.
The business was founded by public relations professionals Kristen Goldup and Jan Martin in 2010, launching in Townsville and the Whitsundays in 2011.
Ms Goldup saw the need for a ticketing solution when operating public relations firm Positive PR and marketing an event for the Whitsunday Reef Festival in 2008.
“I couldn’t find any online ticketing provider who would want to ticket 150 people to a fashion runway event, so within 24 hours, I had dreamt up Local Tickets and registered about 20 regional domains,” Ms Goldup said.
“The idea sat for a few years but after constantly seeing the need for it, we built the website here in Townsville in 2010.”
Ms Goldup said she was no IT guru but wrote the brief based on what clients needed.
At its launch, the company was a pioneer in the market, educating event operators on the benefits of a paperless system to track and process sales.
“I’m very proud to call my company a Townsville success story with all of the IT development built here, along with the initial accounting and legal set- up, graphic design and more recently a national investment.
“Through local contacts here in Townsville, doors have opened for me with the Queensland Government, Treasury Brisbane, Mount Isa Rodeo, even Johnathan Thurston’s national speaking tour with us ticketing the events in Gympie and Adelaide.”
Needing cash to expand, Ms Goldup pitched to the regional manager of radio network Grant Broadcasters, Matt Chapman, in Townsville in 2015.
Grant Broadcasters acquired a 25 per cent shareholding and Local Tickets went national.
FijiTickets.com.fj will be launched in January 2019 in a partnership with Fiji Fashion Week, while New Zealand Tickets is already operating and looking to scale up.
Mr Goldup said the business was becoming more profitable as it became more established.
“We have continually reinvested back into our development and service offerings. Through our integrated sys- tem and app, we can now sell event tickets online, from a venue, and on the event day from a booth or gate with nothing more than a smartphone,” Ms Goldup said.
She said the company would soon upgrade its website and ticketing features with services provided by contractors including original IT developers 2Technical at Townsville.