Leon Perlman
COMPUTICKET, the national computerised entertainment and leisure reservation service, has teamed up with service provider Internet Africa to provide an Internet booking service to cinema patrons on a 24-hour booking basis. Developed by Internet Africa’s World Wide Web service division, the service is an extension of Computicket’s telephone reservation system.
According to Mike Lane, managing director of service provider Internet Africa, there will be a number of routes into the Computicket reservation service. “Cinema patrons will be able to browse through descriptions of all the movies on circuit before moving on to the reservation site.” Computicket will also offer an on-line booking service, although this is some months away.
“They will be able to access the reservation site directly. This will show them where different movies are screening and the availability of seats at the venue of their choice.” Like the telephone booking service, patrons will pick up their tickets at the cinema before the show.
Payment will be debited to the patron’s credit card. “The Internet is probably more secure than banking in unencoded text mode over ordinary telephone lines,” says Lane
Says Computicket MD Graeme Victor: “We have plans to extend the Internet reservation service to include booking for entertainment and sports events, as well as travel options.”