With the West End seeing a boom in new shows – ten new musicals have opened in the last six months – theatre ticket sales are now a major income earner for tour operators, travel agents, coach operators and group organizers. The combined West End theatre product has arrived as one of the biggest draws for London.
In addition, products such as half price tickets, theatre passes, and dinner and show deals serve to widen the appeal of the West End to different market sectors.
Encore Tickets, the travel industry theatre ticket specialist, announced at World Travel Market that travel trade clients will earn over £5 million in commission on theatre tickets next year through Encore alone.
Encore continues to break records with ticket sales of £2.5 million in the month of October alone. Encore is forecasting a 35% growth in sales for 2007 and will sell over 1 million tickets. With average commission rates of £5 per ticket this means the trade should be earning in excess of £5 million in the coming 12 months.
Said Encore managing director John Wales: “This level of commission earnings is easily possible thanks to the different ways in which the trade now has to buy tickets from us, ranging from instant web bookings, white label sites, XML feeds and of course phone bookings with our 40-strong team of experienced of travel industry staff. West End theatre is now a highly valuable income stream for partners”.
The company also launched its new brand at WTM: Encore Advance, which follows its recent purchase of Advance Box Office. The Encore Advance division focussing on the UK Coach Operator & groups markets, will be offering Coach Operators a guaranteed refund on unsold tickets.
