A New Ticket to Success

Accesso also broadened its technology beyond Cygnus’ print-at-home ability. It now offers ticketing onsite, online and “OnTheGo” ticketing via branded apps for iPhone and Android phones, as well as a mobile optimized website. The company has also adapted its ticketing platform to support Passbook, a feature in Apple’s new iOS 6 operating system that allows iPhone users to collect and access digital versions of boarding passes, loyalty rewards and tickets in one iPhone app.

“There’s no need to print anything,” says Brown. “You simply buy it on your phone and you scan your phone at the turnstile.”

For clients, Accesso’s model means the ability to leverage their ticketing procedures — enabling up-selling, for example, or discounts. During the economic downturn, for instance, parks began offering consumers a payment plan for season passes. Accesso was able to incorporate that sales model, and others, such as group sales, directly into its software — enabling purchases via mobile phone.

Meanwhile, small attractions like a local speedway can offer programs that big companies like Disney or Universal or Sea World offer and “can do it in a really efficient manner,” says Brown.

Five years after Brown took over, Accesso has more than doubled its workforce from 21 to 44 employees and is processing about $1 billion in ticket sales annually. Revenue, meanwhile, has increased 130% over the past three years, and in December the company was purchased by Lo-Q, a London-based provider of virtual queuing systems for theme parks and attractions, for $22 million.

Brown foresees a “big opportunity” to expand Accesso’s reach across the globe since Lo-Q’s buyout. “The company had a bright future on its own, but I’m absolutely confident, working together with Lo-Q now, we have so much more opportunity than we would have had. That’s a mutual feeling for both companies.”

Tags: Florida Small Business, Technology/Innovation