Press Releases

Boyertown, PA - (February 2009) Grand Canyon Resort Corporation (GCRC), which is owned and operated by the Hualapai Nation, recently chose Gateway Ticketing Systems to provide a ticketing and revenue management solution to meet a significant increase in visitor attendance at their Grand Canyon West venue over the past few years.

Grand Canyon West is a collection of viewpoints and attractions that includes over 9,000 acres of the Grand Canyon’s West Rim in Northwest Arizona. It’s also home to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a glass walkway positioned 4000 ft above the canyon floor.

The Skywalk, which opened in March of 2007, has proven to be extremely popular and is the primary reason Grand Canyon West requires a new, more robust ticketing system.

“The Grand Canyon Resort Corporation experienced a huge growth in attendance at Grand Canyon West when the Skywalk was built. Managing the additional volume was a challenge,” said Wanda Kalbach, Project Manager at Gateway.

Prior to choosing Galaxy, GCRC depended on an application service provider (ASP) solution for their ticketing needs, and they were experiencing reliability issues. “Previously, GCRC sent their data through an ASP via the Internet and not a private network. As a result, they were constantly experiencing interrupted service due to a loss of connectivity,” Kalbach said. GCRC was also paying a per-ticket charge through the ASP. With the recent increase in attendance, these charges were starting to add up.

Tom Burtnett, General Manager at GCRC, identified some challenges that had to be addressed to make this project a success. “The biggest challenge we faced was timeframe. We were on a very tight timeline for this project. We signed the contract in November and wanted to go live by January 1, 2009. Gateway developed a timeframe that allowed us to get up and running by that time. Gateway staff worked during the holiday period to fulfill our projected live date,” he said.

“Our remote location is also a challenge, due to our limited communications. We connect to the Internet via satellite,” said Burtnett. The ASP system relied on the Internet to connect to the database. Since the Galaxy database is located at the facility, the connection issues disappeared and the process was much faster.

With the lack of reliability and efficiency of their previous system, in addition to increasing per-ticket charges from their ASP, Grand Canyon Resort Corporation decided it was time to find a proven, reliable ticketing solution that would also enable them to reduce costs and increase profits.

“We chose Gateway because we needed to be able to easily make changes to the software and adapt to tourism changes in our industry without relying on an outside source. Gateway is a leader in the ticketing industry,” said Burtnett. “They’ve been very supportive in working with our remote location and have provided us with solid customer support in the implementation stages,” he said.

The recent installation at Grand Canyon West is the first phase of a multiphase project. Phase one included the installation of several drive-up ticketing point of sale stations at Grand Canyon West and Hualapai River Runners at Peach Springs. Food and beverage point of sale stations were also installed at Grand Canyon West.

Phase two of the project, scheduled for completion in April of this year, will include the installation of Galaxy Order Entry for advance sales at the Grand Canyon West tour desk ticketing office. At the Hualapai Ranch, which offers overnight lodging, Galaxy Resource Management will be implemented for room reservations.

“The staff at Gateway Ticketing has been very professional and has tried to satisfy all our needs. It’s a pleasure working with each and every one of them,” Burtnett said.

About Grand Canyon West:

Grand Canyon West is a collection of viewpoints and attractions spread over 9000 acres of the Grand Canyon’s West Rim in Northwest Arizona. Grand Canyon West is managed by Grand Canyon Resort Corporation, which is wholly owned and operated by the Hualapai Nation. The Hualapai Nation also owns and operates Hualapai River Runners (whitewater rafting), and the Hualapai Lodge.

About Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc.:

Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc. is the world leader in high-speed, access control, admission control, and ticketing software for the attraction, amusement, and transportation industries. Located in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, Gateway Ticketing Systems provides sales, service, and support for point of sale and ticketing systems throughout North America and worldwide.

For more information on Gateway Ticketing Systems, visit www.gatewayticketing.com or call +1 (610) 987-4000.

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