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Counting down to its reopening on 2nd December, Theatre Royal Sydney has advised that innovations being introduced at the refurbished venue will deliver a world class customer experience - breaking away from the traditional commercial theatre ticketing and distribution model.

The historic venue’s new operator, leading global live entertainment company Trafalgar Entertainment, which has also promised to change the theatre landscape in Sydney with its ‘Sydney gets it first’ approach to programming has made the decision to prioritise the customer experience during all stages of a theatregoers experience - from the moment they buy a ticket - while also maximising commercial potential for the shows that take place at Theatre Royal Sydney.

In 2020, Trafalgar Entertainment appointed global digital ticketing technology company, TixTrack, to implement a ticketing solution which would align Theatre Royal Sydney’s ticketing sales strategy more closely to that of New York’s Broadway and the London’s West End.

With the implementation of TixTrack, Theatre Royal Sydney, via their website becomes the primary ticket seller for all performances, ensuring tailored, exceptional customer experience.

This ticketing solution also allows third party ticket partner Ticketek and marketing agent TodayTix and others to sell tickets for shows taking place at Theatre Royal Sydney.

The first Australian venue to appoint and implement TixTrack’s NLiven platform in Australia with Jagged Little Pill when it went on sale - NLiven is a modern, mobile-first and powerful innovative ticketing solution.

The state-of-the-art platform provides a frictionless and user-friendly experience with multiple payment options including Apple Pay and leading buy-now-pay-later payment options, Afterpay and PayPal.

As the renovation and refurbishment of Theatre Royal Sydney nears completion, a virtual reality preview of the venue will also soon be available, providing customers with the prospective view that they will get from their seats prior to completing a purchase.

Explaining how the restored venue will offer a cutting edge ticketing solution and a market leading customer relationship management (CRM) solution, TixTrack co-founder and Chief Executive, Steven Sunshine advised "we are delighted to have been selected by Trafalgar Entertainment to supply our Nliven end-to-end ticketing solution to the Theatre Royal Sydney (and) are excited to bring a new, modern, reserved seating ticketing solution to the Australian market.”

Having identified a need to create a secure, central store of data and to consolidate marketing activity within a unified platform, Trafalgar Entertainment has appointed HubSpot as the CRM provider for the venue, becoming the first Trafalgar Entertainment business to implement this platform.

HubSpot is a powerful tool which will allow Theatre Royal Sydney to grow traffic, convert more visitors to the site and to run marketing campaigns, with the aim to drive more ticket sales and profitability. Additionally, HubSpot will provide Theatre Royal Sydney with all the tools and integrations to maximise marketing potential, analyse sales and data, streamline content management and execute exceptional customer service.

Houri Tapiki, Head of Customer Experience at Theatre Royal Sydney explained “as one of the most iconic and much-loved theatres in Australia, the reopening of Theatre Royal Sydney evokes a sense of nostalgia and wonderful memories for our customers.

“To curate a customer experience which builds on these memories as well as attract new audiences, Trafalgar Entertainment made the decision to implement an end-to-end ticketing solution to sell tickets directly via theatreroyalsydney.com and through our on-site dedicated box office.

“In addition to providing a user friendly and modern primary ticketing solution for our customers, NLiven allows integration via API to legacy systems, ensuring we are maximising the distribution and reach for all producers bringing shows to Theatre Royal Sydney.

“Providing world class customer experiences is our passion. It is not only about the ease of purchasing tickets online. It is about communicating to our customers content they are interested in. It is about being available and responsive when a customer prefers to talk on the phone or in person rather than digitally. It is about knowing the value of our customers and making them advocates for our Venue by offering them the best experience possible. Partnering with both TixTrack and HubSpot are allowing us to achieve these ambitions.”

Vin Govender, Trafalgar Entertainment’s Chief Information Officer adds “our vision at Trafalgar Entertainment is to bring a world class experience to our customers at every stage of the journey, from purchasing tickets to seeing exceptional performances on stage. We are excited to partner with both TixTrack and HubSpot and will be integrating these two industry leading solutions to better engage with our customers, while presenting our team with improved insight and more effective tools to deliver great service.”

Theatre Royal Sydney has been shortlisted as a 2021 finalist in the ‘Guest Experiences’ category in The Ticketing Business Awards which take place in the UK on 2nd December.

Located within the 25 Martin Place at the heart of Sydney’s Central Business District, Theatre Royal

The transformed Theatre Royal Sydney, will reopen with new Broadway musicals, Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill followed by Girl from the North Country in January.

In April 2022, the acclaimed An American in Paris will be presented at the Theatre.

Images courtesy of Trafalgar Entertainment.

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