NONCHO ILIEV
Entertainment venues, from theme parks and sports stadiums to concerts, cinemas and the theatre, often welcome significant volumes of visitors. This can sometimes be for very short periods of time for some venues, but for other sites, a high volume is experienced every day. As the popularity of many of these venues continues to increase, so does the expectation for fast entry and efficient service.
For instance, Avius’s 2025 global research analysed more than 1.4 million guest feedback responses across the leisure and tourism industry in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East — spanning theme parks, family entertainment centres, zoos, museums, aquariums and immersive experiences — and found that queue management and wait times are among the most important drivers of guest satisfaction.
Additionally, EY’s 2025 Media & Entertainment Pulse Poll echoes Avius’ findings, with 42% of its 4,000 global respondents citing crowded spaces and long wait times as the biggest deterrent to enjoyment.
Clearly, visitors attending events expect to be able to arrive, move efficiently through the entry gates and have an exceptional event experience. This experience is influenced by the entertainment, the food and drink available, and the ease with which they can travel and access the required appropriate areas. While technology plays a significant role in this process, it should preferably operate near-invisibly in the background. Printers are no exception. From the moment visitors arrive to the souvenirs they take home, printed materials play a vital yet quiet role in shaping the entertainment and visitor experience.
Providing Seamless Entry to the Experience
With Avius’ event findings showing that even short delays influence guest satisfaction, queue management is clearly much more than just an operational necessity.
With experience determined as early as the entry gate, managing high volumes of footfall quickly and efficiently is essential. In response, many venues now rely on hybrid ticketing models to manage queues and provide visitors with greater flexibility. Visitors can choose between purchasing tickets in advance online and then presenting them digitally or in print, or buying them at staffed booths on arrival. The options don’t stop there. Self-service kiosks and mobile ticketing systems are also becoming increasingly common, allowing guests to serve themselves or get tickets issued in the queue by staff.
For some especially high-volume events, such as music festivals, theme parks and some sporting events, these tickets may also be used to communicate and enforce timed-entry into venues. After all, tickets serve a much greater purpose than solely providing entry.
Access, Safety and Verification
Tickets also play an important role in ensuring guests can move throughout the venue. As many venues accommodate thousands of visitors, it is imperative that guests can quickly find where they need to go. Tickets often communicate this information. For visitors, it helps them access attractions and find their seats. For venue staff, it communicates which areas visitors can access. This not only supports efficiency but also safety and crowd control.
Specifically, tickets generally mostly feature the event name, date and location. Additionally, it may include seat numbers, designated entry gates or access zones. While often printed as text on a ticket, information may also be communicated through a barcode or QR code. Operators scan the ticket and verify the information through a back-end system. This helps operators manage entry points securely while still allowing guests to come and go as they please.
Tickets may also hold details relating to compliance and safety. For example, at musical festivals or concerts, adults may be provided printed wristbands so that bar staff can quickly identify them as over-18 before serving alcohol. Guest access limitations can be identified quickly, keeping queues moving.
The Supporting Act at Vendor Stalls
While at these venues, guests often buy food, drink or merchandise to commemorate their experience.
Printers support these vendors too, providing tickets for secure collection and proof-of-purchase receipts. Speed and efficiency are just as important here as these vendors experience peak times. During football games, for example, hundreds of transactions may occur in 15 minutes as visitors purchase food and drink during the halftime interval. At festivals, peak times appear between each musician's set for event attendees to purchase food and beverages. Visitors expect to be able to do this quickly, and this sense of urgency makes reliable and fast receipt and ticket printing essential, so that wait times remain minimal and queues are manageable.
Many of these operators also combine traditional staffed counters with self-service kiosks so that guests can order and pay independently. This reduces pressure on staff and helps with queue management. Additionally, within temporary stalls or pop-up vendors, which have limited space, compact printers and mobile printing solutions play a crucial role.
Ticketing - How it Contributes to Lasting Memories
Tickets play a vital role during visitors’ time at a venue. However, for many sentimental guests, they carry a deeper value following the experience, becoming a reminder of the memories made.
As such, the value of tickets is not limited to the information they hold on the day. They also offer an opportunity to strengthen branding or communicate marketing information which is relevant to visitors afterwards. Designs may feature artwork or logos relating to the sporting team, music band or entertainment venues, which increases the likelihood of these materials becoming a keepsake. QR codes or printed messaging may also direct visitors to further content, marketing, promotions or ways to book for future events.
Conclusion
From the moment guests arrive, to the moment they leave with the printed keepsake in a pocket or a purse, guests expect to be able to move quickly and spend more time enjoying the experience than in a queue.
Tickets, receipts and other printed materials play a critical role in ensuring guest expectations are met, alongside also acting as a reminder of the experience itself. While not as visible as the big screens, sound systems and rides, printers – be it for tickets or receipts for purchases – play a critical part in delivering the seamless and unforgettable experience that guests have grown to expect.