CityLine's expansion in region is just the ticket
The agent for UA cinemas and newly appointed supplier of online services to Disneyland is now eyeing mainland events and performances
CityLine, the online ticketing agent for UA cinemas, hopes to diversify its business and expand sales as Hong Kong works to become the cultural and tourism hub of Asia.
The 12-year-old company recently won a contract to provide online ticketing services for Disneyland, which opens in September.
CityLine also hopes to win business for events held on the mainland.
'We are moving out. We're not going to be limited to UA,' general manager Ajmal Samuel said.
CityLine first offered telephone ticketing services to UA cinema goers in 1993. Five years later it launched an online platform capable of handling reservations through its own website or those of event organisers.
Providing the ticketing engine and handling credit card processing, the company also takes bookings for performances such as those put on by the Punchline Comedy Club and the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Like most 12-year-olds in Hong Kong, CityLine is now excited about Disney. The company provides the technology that allows visitors to book tickets on the park's website and handles the payments and back-end.
Mr Samuel said providing online ticketing was not as simple as it sounded. To provide a reliable service, CityLine needs to ensure there is no downtime and the system is consistently stable. Also, credit card payments must be processed smoothly with the banks.
After upgrading its entire system to accommodate plans to sell tickets to more events in Hong Kong and on the mainland, CityLine won a contract to provide ticketing for events put on by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
Mr Samuel said this would allow the company to start selling tickets for Hong Kong events to people in China.
He was confident that Hong Kong's events would be a draw for mainland tourists and that handling tickets to cultural performances, museum exhibitions and sports matches would significantly increase sales volume.
As part of the company's move towards cross-border ticketing, CityLine hoped to secure the rights to sell tickets to mainland events.
Although the focus of the company's efforts would be on promoting Hong Kong events to mainlanders, Mr Samuel said the company would be looking to develop relationships with Chinese authorities to sell tickets to a range of events including exhibitions, concerts and sport contests.
CityLine and UA Cinemas form part of the Lark Multimedia Group, which also includes Studio City Cinemas, a company that operates cinemas in Shanghai, Wuhan and Chongqing. Plans are under way for CityLine to provide online tickets to shows at its sister company's venues in China.
