Gateway Ticketing Systems, a leading provider of admission control systems, has been chosen by The National WWII Museum in New Orleans to provide ticketing and admission control solutions.
Gateway Ticketing Systems is pleased to announce that it will be continuing to work with The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, providing its Galaxy software as the museums ticketing and admission control solution of the future. Gateway has worked with the Museum for 17 years.
This popular museum tells the story of America’s experience in WWII, exploring why the war was fought, how it was won and why it changed the world. Through a range of interesting exhibits, personal stories and immersive experiences, it helps visitors to understand more about this key event in human history. It is the number one attraction in the city, according to TripAdvisor.
An efficient platform
The Museum had been using Galaxy for a long time but decided to go to RFP to explore other options.
“Our goal in shopping ticketing systems was to combine an already robust website and sales effort with a ticketing platform that would drive growth in online ticket sales without breaking the bank,” says Becky Mackie, Senior Vice President & COO at The National WWII Museum.
“As we all adjust to new consumer buying habits and an unprecedented decline in revenues due to temporary museum closures, an efficient platform pricing model along with enhanced online sales tools will prove critical in the next couple of years.”
Kully Bules previously worked at the Museum and is now its Account Manager at Gateway. She says: “Having worked at the Museum for so long, it was especially important to me that they found the solution that worked best for them and their business. Of course, I hoped it would be Galaxy, but assured the team that we would help them succeed, regardless of their choice.”
“When the competitive RFP extended beyond the Museum’s renewal, we offered them a quarterly bridge agreement,” says Peter Wolf, Director of Sales and Marketing at Gateway. “We were more than happy to work with the Museum to extend their annual agreement to a September 30, 2019 deadline, which is when they would have needed to invest the time and effort to upgrade their web store to our latest version.”
“Around that deadline, the Museum reached out to us,” says Bules. “They wanted to upgrade their web store. They had ultimately decided to stay with Gateway!”
Meeting requirements
A Gateway team, including Bules, headed to the Museum within a week to discuss its needs for the project. One area that they looked at was the chart of accounts, in order to create a more efficient revenue structure for financial reporting. Ultimately, the product system was restructured, meaning that the Museum could benefit from a simpler system that allowed it to create new tickets and event easily. The team also highlighted how to effectively deep link on the Museum’s web store.
The Museum is now implementing Galaxy Connect so that it is able to sell live, gate-ready tickets through several third-party distributors, such as TripAdvisor or Groupon.
“The team ultimately was also very appreciative that Galaxy is one system that unifies all their required functions within one software,” says Wolf. “They also know to be successful they need one unified company with a sales, support and implementation team that works together as one core group.”
“I am incredibly proud of our 17-year partnership with the National WWII Museum,” says Michael Andre, President and CEO of Gateway Ticketing Systems. “In many ways, our two organizations have grown up together.
“When they opted to explore other ticketing systems, I was disappointed but ultimately supportive of the transition as I look forward to seeing the Museum continue to grow. But now having them stay on board with Gateway and Galaxy only reaffirms our commitment to their success and their future.”
Gateway Ticketing Systems is also continuing its Webinar Wednesday series, to help attraction industry professionals to navigate the complex situation caused by COVID-19.
Images kind courtesy of The National WWII Museum, New Orleans.
