How To Prepare For The Irish Ticketing Regulations

Just as the hospitality sector in Ireland let out a collective sigh of relief with the reopening of nightclubs and music venues following strict COVID-19 measures, the industry was hit with a huge obstacle in the form of new ticketing regulations for late-night venues, particularly ‘dancing events’.

The regulations dictate that a condition of entry for customers to a large portion of late-night venues is an electronic ticket purchased at least one hour in advance. This ticket must also hold the individual's details for contact tracing purposes.

This has left nightclubs, bars and pubs all over the country scratching their heads in disbelief. How will people buy the tickets at least one hour before arrival? How do we administer the tickets at the venue? How do we ensure the process is easy enough for people to book after a few drinks? How do we store the information for contact tracing?

Fortunately for all of the questions above, Collctiv has a ready to go solution in the form of our Q-Tickets feature, an electronic ticketing system using unique QR Codes, allowing indoor hospitality venues to process payments and ensure full compliance with the new regulations.

What are the new ticketing requirements?

Let’s take it one step back for anyone who doesn’t know about these changes. In October, the Irish Government lifted the capacity restrictions placed on gatherings, allowing the full reopening of indoor hospitality venues such as nightclubs & live music venues, including pubs.

However, the opening of these venues coincided with the rise of COVID-19 cases across the country and because of this, the Government introduced these additional measures. The measures impact ‘dancing events’, any events where people may be dancing (which we know accounts for a huge amount of the night-time economy).

Ireland’s Department of Culture released the following statement on Tuesday evening:

“The main issue of discussion was the requirement for all those businesses who wish to operate as a live entertainment venue or nightclub to use electronic ticketing systems as a condition of entry to their premises. It was clarified that tickets must be purchased or acquired at least one hour before arrival and must contain details to allow for robust contract tracing,”

Despite the calls from numerous industry representatives to delay these measures in order to allow live entertainment venues and nightclubs to implement the new systems, the Government has held firm and rejected these requests. 

Therefore, as of Friday 29th October, venues must adhere to these rules or risk fines or even the potential closure of their premises.

This has left venues scrambling to change their entire processes overnight, from a traditional pay on the door policy, to an electronic ticketing system that captures customer details at the point of sale for contact tracing purposes.

This is where Collctiv steps in.

Electronic Ticket Solution - Q-Tickets

Collctiv’s Q-Tickets technology was built to support exactly the kind of criteria that has been imposed on Ireland’s hospitality sector. Through a simple feature allowing you to add a payment button on your website, Merchants are able to take payment for tickets, robustly administer access to their venues and capture all of the relevant customer information needed for contact tracing.

Sounds easy enough, right?

How does Q-Tickets work?

It’s simple. We install a payment button on your website (which can be done within 15 minutes), and from there you’re ready to go. Customers who are wanting to visit your venue will head to your website, purchase their tickets and upon receipt of payment, customers are issued an electronic ticket directly to their device in the form of a unique QR Code.

Collctiv provides a free scanning app that members of staff at your venue simply download to their own devices, giving them the ability to scan tickets upon entry. This ensures tickets are only redeemed once and easily allows door staff to manage this new process for access to venues. 

It really is THAT simple. No expensive hardware to purchase. No complex integration taking days/weeks.

Don’t risk fines or closures. Why not book a 15 minute chat with one of our helpful team here and find out how we can help you remain compliant in a cost-effective, easy to adopt way.

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