APACTix eager to impress with services at SEA Games in June

Singapore

AS the new kid on the block in Singapore's ticketing market, APACTix is banking on its strength in customer service as it looks to gradually build its reputation here.

It's been nearly two years since the company first set up shop in Singapore, providing services for the Singapore Sports Hub under the brand Sports Hub Tix.

Formerly known as New Era Tickets Asia, the rebranded APACTix was formally launched last December and has invested some S$3 million so far to get its operations up and running.

This includes setting up a data intelligence warehouse and a local data centre with enough bandwidth to support a high volume of sales.

Chad Phillips, the company's general manager, recognises the mammoth task on his shoulders as he looks to chip away at the market share of industry leader Sistic.

Sistic has been active in Singapore since 1991 and is the ticketing service and solution provider behind more than 1,000 events every year, according to its website. Other ticket-selling agencies here include the likes of Ticketbooth.

Mr Phillips was quoted in earlier media reports as saying that APACTix would take about three years to gain familiarity and acceptance in the Singapore market, and he admits that is a "conservative" target.

"We're not naive enough to think that we're just going to come in, say 'APACTix is here' and things will start changing right away," says the Canadian in a recent interview with The Business Times.

"(Sistic) has been around for a long time and done a great job. We're the underdog now. So it's going to take us some time to earn that trust, show the capabilities in the different things we can do, and show the customers that we care."

APACTix offers two solutions to the market: event sales through its website; and a "white label" option, where venues or organisations can create custom-branded ticketing outlets using APACTix's services.

The company's in-house ticketing system is powered by Paciolan technology, which has sold as many as 3,500 tickets in the space of 30 minutes at recent events in Singapore. Over in North America, it has sold over 15,000 tickets in just 10 minutes for certain events.

In January, APACTix was appointed the sole ticketing partner for the 2015 South East Asian Games, the biennial multi-sport event that Singapore is hosting in June.

APACTix will provide the ticketing platform and sales for all ticketed events, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies for the Games.

With this being the first time that the SEA Games are being held in the Republic since 1993, Mr Phillips is relishing the opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the thousands of spectators - both from Singapore and abroad - in their ticket-buying experience.

"This is a very important and prestigious event for us," he says. "We were fortunate to secure the SEA Games deal, despite being in Singapore for less than two years. There's a lot of pressure on us to deliver, but I believe we can."