Spanish developers bring Covid-safe app to market

A new ticketing services operation based in Barcelona claims to be attracting interest from some of the world’s biggest live event companies, thanks to its ability to include health record details of fans as part of their pass to attend shows.

Barcelona-based TiketBlok says it has developed an app that makes it possible to identify everyone who attends a major event through their mobile phones. The app also allows event organisers to establish a communications channel with those attendees, as well as including identity and health certification within the ticket itself.

TiketBlok has already trialled its system successfully at a Manel concert on 21 May in Gerona, where 1,000 people gathered without social distancing after passing an antigen test. The company also says it has attracted the attention of Live Nation, the WiZink Center in Madrid and opera houses in Vienna.

“Our tool allows venues and event organisers to identify every single attendee, communicate with them and certify their identity and health status, says TiketBlok managing director Javier de Esteban, adding that for the Manel concert in Gerona’s Sala La Mirona venue, more than 5,000 notifications were sent to attendees via SMS, email or through the app itself.

TiketBlok trialled its system successfully at a concert with 1,000 people without social distancing

He continues, “Our app works as a ‘smart wallet’ so all attendees have to enter the venue with their own app: One phone, one ticket. This is how we identify the whole audience, and how we are able to communicate with them anytime in real time. We also include the identity certification through a biometric analysis of the attendee ID or passport and the health status.”

TiketBlok can integrate the AOKpass health certificate – a Covid-free certification project backed by the International Chamber of Commerce, International SOS and SGS Group – into its tickets. The company says it connects with official health certificate issuers to include on the ticket itself whether the ticket holder has passed a pre-event antigen test or has had a certified vaccination.

Company MD de Esteban adds, “The best part is that we are system agnostic. It doesn’t matter who sold the tickets, you can use TiketBlok to manage the tickets and the access.”

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