Is southern Africa’s ticketing market ready for disruption?

Event ticketing is an industry valued over US$60bn market and expected to reach the $90bn mark by 2026 - which made us wonder. What’s the state of play and who are the significant participants in Southern Africa’s ticketing market?

The rise of online ticketing

The emergence of online ticketing (sometimes referred to as e-Ticketing) dates back to 1994 when major US Airlines started adopting the technology for trips between the US and Canada, with Southwest Airlines leading the way. By 1997, the technology had expanded to include trips to Germany and the New York Times published a report titled E-Tickets begin to catch on, exploring this phenomenon.

At the time, the idea was that “instead of having to pick up a paper ticket (or wait for it to be delivered), E-ticket travellers simply arrive at the airport with a receipt, picture identification and, when necessary, the credit card with which they purchased the ticket.”

During this formative phase, a couple of problems were being solved by online ticketing that were driving the growing demand: