Market Report: Switzerland

Switzerland is a small yet significant market. After several years of consolidation, further changed arrived when See Tickets was acquired by CTS Eventim, turning the “big four” into three. Challenges remain despite the post-Covid bounce

“Our biggest challenge is always operating in a multilingual market where four languages – English, French, Italian, and German – are spoken,” says Andreas Müller, MD of Ticketmaster Switzerland.

There’s also growing competition thanks to the emergence of many specialised companies, a saturated live events market, and a trend towards increasingly short-term buying behaviour. Despite this, many remain optimistic. “We see them as opportunities to innovate and further enhance our services,” says Ticketcorner’s Claudio Agustoni.

Primary ticketing
The big three are led by Ticketcorner, a joint venture between CTS Eventim and publisher Ringier, which has been the frontrunner for several years.

See Tickets is now also part of the Eventim Group following the German giant’s acquisition of Vivendi’s international ticketing business. Ticketmaster is second, thanks in part to their association with Live Nation and huge success in sports. While Eventfrog focuses on smaller and medium-sized events.

See Tickets is now also part of the Eventim Group following the German giant’s acquisition of Vivendi’s international ticketing business.

“Eventfrog is Switzerland’s largest event calendar,” says Jonas Hufschmid, the company’s head of marketing and sales. “We have taken over Eventbooster, a service provider that specialises in increasing the reach of events in the media, becoming Switzerland’s largest network for event promotion.”

There are also many ticketing system providers. “This segment – venues, trade fairs, museums, and leisure operators – is highly competitive due to the large volumes involved,” says Dr Marcus Garbe, managing partner and founder of Transaction Consulting. “Secutix, vivenu, Smeetz, and Ticketcorner share the market.”

Distribution of sales
“Nearly 90% of all tickets are now digital, and the numbers are growing,” says Müller. “The shift towards digital and mobile ticketing continues to gain momentum. The most popular methods are now e-tickets and fan tickets,” adds Philipp Musshafen, CEO of Zurich’s Hallenstadion. Print-at- home tickets remain relatively important, particularly with older fans.

Secondary ticketing
“Tickets are regularly resold on the temporary market,” says Samuel Galley, a promoter with Just Because, adding it is often people clicking on the first link they see.

The lack of a legal framework means the likes of Viagogo are prevalent – “the secondary market is flourishing,” says Garbe – though many people also use Ricardo or eBay. But, adds Galley, “Ticketing agencies are increasingly implementing their own resale platforms on which tickets can be resold at original prices, plus a processing fee.”

“The secondary market is flourishing”

For example, Ticketcorner’s resale platform fanSALE allows tickets to be resold at the original price/face value and with a certificate of authenticity. In addition, “There is a growing trend towards personalised tickets as a means to combat the secondary ticket market,” says Musshafen.

In February, Viagogo reached a settlement with Switzerland’s largest consumer protection organisation following a six-year legal battle.

The company agreed to make changes to its website, indicating its status as a resale marketplace; to provide greater transparency over prices and seating information; to feature a reduced number of pop-up windows to limit pressure on prospective buyers; and to clearly identify professional resellers or traders.

Cultural analysis
Technology and innovation are developing rapidly. “TWINT as a mobile payment solution is a speciality here and is particularly popular with younger target groups – it’s now the most important payment method in the Swiss ticketing and event market,” says Garbe.

“Within the last 12 months, Eventfrog has integrated several AI-based features for the purpose of helping event organisers in their marketing,” adds Hufschmid.

And market leader Ticketcorner is not resting on its laurels either. “We launched EDGE, our own paid media agency in Switzerland; we adopted the use of AI to create SEO content for our newly launched online magazine event; and we offer smaller market players technology such as Ticketcorner.Light, our web-based, self-service ticketing solution and our flexible white-label ticketing solution, INHOUSE.”