London, England (15 November, 2021) – Salisbury Cathedral located in Salisbury Wiltshire, England is live with Galaxy® Ticketing and Guest Experience solution from Gateway Ticketing Systems® for online and onsite ticket sales.
Salisbury Cathedral is a testimony to the faith and practical skills of the medieval craftsmen who built it, but it is much more than a historical monument. It is a living church and a place of prayer with daily services and a thriving congregation.
Because of its extraordinary construction, the Cathedral attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year who can enjoy a variety of tours and demonstrations on site or explore the sacred space which hosts one of the best preserved of only four surviving original 1215 Magna Carta. The Cathedral also provides a wide range of curriculum-based activities to visiting schools as well as a varied programme of concerts, performances, art exhibitions, film screenings, talks, workshops and community projects throughout the year.
The Cathedral started using Galaxy in May this year to sell general admission, however their needs go well beyond that. This autumn they used Galaxy to sell tickets to their wildly popular 5-day sound and light spectacular, Sarum Lights: Heaven and Earth which launched on Tuesday, 9 November.
Sarum Lights – Heaven and Earth, created by artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper, combined soundscapes with spectacular projections both inside and outside the Cathedral. The show was designed to immerse guests in the wonderous beauty of our world from sunrise to sunset and reflect on the fragility of nature and our impact on it.
Salisbury Cathedral is also using the box office capabilities in Galaxy. Over 900 concert goers were booked for the 30th Anniversary Gala Concert for the Cathedral's Girl's Choir, and they are currently using it to book the Monteverdi Vespers later this month and Handel’s Messiah in December.
Due to Covid capacity requirements, they are also using Galaxy to manage capacity for some of their most popular services including the renowned Advent Processions, Darkness to Light, which takes place on the 26, 27 and 28 of November.
The team at Salisbury Cathedral issued an RFP and approached Gateway Ticketing Systems with several pain points that existed in their ticketing solution at the time: including the functionality to sell capacity managed and timed tickets, as well as the ability to efficiently manage Gift Aid and donations from supporters. After a search for the right solution, the team ultimately chose Galaxy to be their ticketing and guest experience solution of the future.
Hannah Paye, Salisbury Cathedral’s Visitor Experience and Bookings Manager said: "We wanted a system that can carry out a wide range of functions, which can get complicated. We’re not just selling tickets, we’re managing capacity, entry times, taking individual bookings online and on site, managing large and small Travel Trade groups and running a box office – all through Galaxy. Luckily Rachel Shaw, Gateway's implementation specialist assigned to us, is a brilliant troubleshooter and problem solver."
Salisbury Cathedral went live with Galaxy Ticketing Point-of-Sale, the eGalaxy Web Store and Galaxy Admission Control so they can sell tickets onsite and online and admit their guests. Using Resource and Capacity Management for Galaxy, these tickets pull from a centralized database so that the Cathedral can limit the number of guests inside the venue at any given time, and control the times they are able to enter. They're also using the Order Entry function for groups.
Going forward, the Cathedral is considering onboarding Reserved Seating for Galaxy, which would allow them to offer tiered prices for tickets based on seat location and set different prices for ticket products according to the sales channel. Another option is to onboard Group Sales on the Web, giving school, community and corporate groups the ability to book their visit online at their convenience, not just when the phones or gates are open. Finally, they may consider CRM Plus which would help them to aggregate all the transactional and behavioral data generated by Galaxy and use it to make better business decisions and personalize each individual guest experience.
Joe Marshall, General Manager of Gateway Ticketing Systems UK, visited Salisbury Cathedral for Sarum Lights and had this to say: "I’m absolutely thrilled to see Galaxy in operation at Salisbury Cathedral and glad to welcome the Salisbury team to the Gateway family in person. It was an amazing achievement by teams on both sides to turn this project around in only six weeks and have grown the project to this point in just six months."
"With each new sale and implementation, we learn more about the ticketing and guest experience needs of attractions and venues," says Peter Wolf, Director of Sales and Marketing at Gateway Ticketing Systems. "The project with Salisbury Cathedral was no different. In a short time, we learned more about the pain points and requirements for Cathedrals and similar cultural institutions, and we look forward to a continued relationship of learning and successes. We’ll use what we’ve learned to continue to support our customers in the region and bring better solutions to those seeking a new ticketing system."
About Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral is one of Britain’s finest medieval cathedrals. It offers a warm welcome to all who visit and seeks to strengthen church and community life in the diocese. It is committed to protecting liberty, encouraging creativity and celebrating God’s eternity through exceptional worship and outreach. As the home of one of only four remaining copies of the 1215 Magna Carta in the world, the Cathedral has a special commitment to challenging injustice and fostering reconciliation, both at home and abroad.
The Cathedral is usually visited by over 250,000 people annually, who come to marvel at the peace and beauty of the more than 800-year-old building, which boasts the tallest Spire in the country (123m), visible for miles around, and the oldest working mechanical clock in the world.
About Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc.
Gateway Ticketing Systems®, Inc. is the world leader in ticketing and guest experience solutions for the attractions industry for 33 years. Their robust Galaxy® solution integrates ticketing, admission control, resource management, group sales, online ticketing sales, retail, food and beverage, membership/pass/donor management, OTA sales, plus reporting and CRM. Gateway also provides strategic consultation, service and support for attractions throughout North America and worldwide. Gateway serves the global community from their headquarters in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania and offices in Calgary, Canada and central London, as well as through partner resellers across the world. To learn more about Gateway Ticketing Systems, please visit www.gatewayticketing.com.