Cityline -Serving Hong Kong with technology, professional experience, and a global vision

Readers who have been following the news will know that Tencent’s Maoyan Entertainment will take over URBTIX’s operations later this year. According to reports, Maoyan Entertainment came away with the contract by outpricing by a wide margin the current service provider, Cityline, and other tenderers such as HK Ticketing. My old friend Marcus joined Cityline in mid-2019 to serve as its General Manager. He said that, since joining Cityline, he has heard the industry’s comments about URBTIX’s services. Because he came from an IT background, he understood the urgency to upgrade the systems. He was fully intent on launching new functionalities after the contract renewal, and yet Cityline lost the contract. The Art Venue invited Marcus to talk about his work and his upcoming plans.

A: The Art Venue M: Marcus Lam

A: Marcus, it has been almost two years since you joined Cityline from an international IT company. Are you all settled in?

M: I have settled in well. Of course, most of my former clients were from the private sector, whereas most of my current clients and business partners are from the public sector. There is bound to be some difference in the way we communicate. Nevertheless, my current work gives me ample opportunities to apply my experience, expertise and connections in the global IT industry to offer a better and more convenient ticketing system to the public.

A: I learnt from the news that Cityline’s contract with URBTIX will end at the close of the year. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) issued a new tender and attracted bids from many service providers. In the end, Maoyan Entertainment was awarded the contract for its low bid.

M: That’s correct. Indeed, our contract was originally going to end in early 2021. But, due to the pandemic, the contract was extended for 9 months and will be ended at the end of 2021. We have worked with the Government for more than 20 years. In the beginning, URBTIX was run by the LCSD. Later, they outsourced the platform’s operations to contractors. We had hoped to win a new contract and upgrade the entire system, not only to solve the existing problems, but also to implement a new system to keep up with the times and with the global demand for ticketing system interoperability. This includes the ability to conduct electronic payments.

It is really a pity, but Maoyan’s quotation was very low. This may be because their systems are run on the Mainland, which is not purely a business consideration.

Having said that, Cityline is a standalone ticketing system. Even without URBTIX’s contract, we will still upgrade the system and develop new functions continually to provide quality service to the public and event and show organisers. Presently, Cityline’s system allows us to share data and information with users, even analytics reports. This can help users understand their audiences and their spending habits. It is a service that URBTIX does not offer.

Additionally, in response to the closure of performance venues due to the pandemic, we launched a streaming platform called Cityline Digital Theatre (CDT). CDT enables art groups and artists to stage shows while maintaining social distancing. Because we have our own payment system, audiences around the world can purchase tickets and watch recorded or live shows on CDT.

A: It is indeed important for streaming platforms to have a stable and secure payment system. In addition to offering a platform to art groups and artists, will there be other plans for the CDT?

M: We are going to launch a short film competition to let students display their creative talents and use the CDT platform to share their work. Winners can even join our masterclass, learn about filmmaking and become our interns. In addition, schools in Hong Kong now emphasise cultivating the students’ interest in music and the performing arts. Many schools are already putting out highly professional productions. Accordingly, we will implement a programme to build websites for schools for free, so that they can use the CDT to promote their productions. We will also launch a platform for promoting local music and performing arts development and for talent discovery.

A: Do you have other long-term plans?

M: Entertainment-travel is very popular these days. I really hope that Cityline can carry more international productions, so that Hong Kong audiences can easily buy tickets for local and overseas shows or sports events on our platform. At the same time, I hope to develop more overseas businesses. I want people overseas to enjoy our convenient ticketing services and attract them to come to Hong Kong for our arts and sports events. For some time now, we have been providing ticketing services for Hong Kong’s tourist attractions, such as Disneyland and Ocean Park, and for the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival. In Taiwan, new venues are continuously being built, and they are developing new tourist attractions. Taiwan is also a popular and familiar destination for Hongkongers. With Cityline’s mature systems and expansive networks, we hope to extend our services to Taiwan soon.