Fueling the Travel Market with API Technology, Part I
11/9/17
Last week we started talking about how Broadway uses API technology to deliver inventory and content to travel industry and distribution partners around the world, making shopping for tickets before a trip to NYC infinitely more convenient.
In their simplest form, APIs allow direct access into show inventory without human intervention. Once a distribution partner—like Expedia, Plum/TicketsatWork, or WePlann—programs to a Shubert/Broadway Inbound API, it’s able to pull information about the show and display everything on its own website.
Shubert/BI provides inventory at a price programmed by the show, and the travel site factors in a margin and presents the price to the consumer to buy, all electronically. That’s critical, because ease of access and seamless operations keep the shelves filled with product (tickets) to buy.
But most importantly, the customer can browse, shop, and place an order directly on the same site they booked their major travel plans like airfare and hotel, and those sites can target customers they know are visiting New York with information about buying a ticket.
Broadway Inbound’s API connects in both directions. First we pull show info and inventory via multiple ticketing systems (STAR, Tessitura, and soon Ticketmaster), and in the other direction, we connect the show products to distribution partners, providing electronic access to show descriptions, schedules, multiple price points, last ticket availability, and even exact seat locations on some shows.
That bundle of information can then be displayed on sites around the world—translated into local languages and presented in the currency of choice—making it easier for potential buyers to buy and eliminating a bit of lingering mystery and complexity.
This type of direct, automated connectivity benefits Broadway in so many ways, but there’s one caveat: it must deliver VALUE to the end consumer. More on that later.
For more information on Broadway Inbound, visit www.BroadwayInbound.com.
In their simplest form, APIs allow direct access into show inventory without human intervention. Once a distribution partner—like Expedia, Plum/TicketsatWork, or WePlann—programs to a Shubert/Broadway Inbound API, it’s able to pull information about the show and display everything on its own website.
Shubert/BI provides inventory at a price programmed by the show, and the travel site factors in a margin and presents the price to the consumer to buy, all electronically. That’s critical, because ease of access and seamless operations keep the shelves filled with product (tickets) to buy.
But most importantly, the customer can browse, shop, and place an order directly on the same site they booked their major travel plans like airfare and hotel, and those sites can target customers they know are visiting New York with information about buying a ticket.
Broadway Inbound’s API connects in both directions. First we pull show info and inventory via multiple ticketing systems (STAR, Tessitura, and soon Ticketmaster), and in the other direction, we connect the show products to distribution partners, providing electronic access to show descriptions, schedules, multiple price points, last ticket availability, and even exact seat locations on some shows.
That bundle of information can then be displayed on sites around the world—translated into local languages and presented in the currency of choice—making it easier for potential buyers to buy and eliminating a bit of lingering mystery and complexity.
This type of direct, automated connectivity benefits Broadway in so many ways, but there’s one caveat: it must deliver VALUE to the end consumer. More on that later.
For more information on Broadway Inbound, visit www.BroadwayInbound.com.
Originally published in Broadway Briefing.