ASK targets higher revenue with e-tickets

The new ticketing system will be tried out at the Kisumu Agricultural Show, which opens on Thursday. The system involves the use of electronically indexed tickets, which visitors will buy at entrances to the showgrounds.

The Agricultural Society of Kenya is banking on e-ticketing to improve revenue collection from agricultural and trade fairs, the main source of its income.

The new ticketing system will be tried out at the Kisumu Agricultural Show, which opens on Thursday. The system involves the use of electronically indexed tickets, which visitors will buy at entrances to the showgrounds.

The tickets bearing barcodes will then be swiped allowing entry to the fairs where modern agricultural solutions are showcased by various commodity and service vendors.

ASK hopes that the use of e-ticketing will increase its gate collections by cutting down on the use of counterfeit or recycled tickets.

“Once the ticket is swiped it cannot be reused since each bar code is a unique identifier. This will help us in getting more accurate collections,” said Mr Charles Owelle, a regional ASK official in Kisumu.

In addition, the new ticketing system will enable ASK create a database of Kenyans who attend agricultural shows and index them using demographic characteristics. “Each ticket has a unique corresponding number and we can use this to capture details like the age of the ticket holder, gender, occupation etc.,” says Mr Caleb Oguya, an executive member of the ASK.

Mr Oguya said the details would help ASK to determine the reach and relevance of regional agricultural shows.

“We have been holding agricultural shows every year for decades but there is no database on who the shows appeal to,” he said.

“As the country targets more young people to take up farming the data would, for instance, establish how many Kenyans aged between 18 and 35 attend the shows.”

The data would also help various companies and parastatals, which exhibit their products and services at the regional agricultural shows in targeting their messages.

The theme for this year’s Kisumu Agricultural Show is Enhancing Technology in Agriculture and Industry for Food Security and Growth.
The show running through to Sunday has attracted 98 exhibitors.

fsunday@ke.nationmedia.com