Revenue from tickets sold on the Opentix platform for entertainment events in Taiwan nearly doubled last year from 2021 as COVID-19 restrictions eased, the National Theater and Concert Hall said on Thursday.
Ticket sales on Opentix totaled NT$1.14 billion (US$37.08 million) last year, compared with NT$640 million the previous year at the height of the pandemic, said the National Theater and Concert Hall, which operates the site.
In total, 1.57 million tickets were sold on the platform last year for 8,078 events, it told a news conference.
The number of non-performing-arts events — exhibitions and film festivals — last year surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with about 130,000 tickets to 1,965 such events sold, compared with 1,081 events in the category in 2019, National Theater and Concert Hall data showed.
Musicals were also popular, it said, citing Surprise Craft the Musical (SC驚釀小酒館), which has been performed 27 times across Taiwan since it premiered last year, with 20,000 tickets sold.
About 100,000 tickets to 244 musicals were sold last year, generating revenue of NT$133 million, the data showed.
That marked a significant increase from 2021 when only 66 musicals were staged, grossing NT$39 million, the theater said.
Japanese comedy style manzai and other stand-up performances also gained traction in Taiwan, selling 101,000 tickets on Opentix for 155 shows last year, it said.
In comparison, ticket sales on the platform were 14,000 for 79 such shows in 2019, it said.
Ticket prices for theater shows, music events and dance performances also rose last year, it said.
There has also been an upward trend in ticket prices for theater and music events, while ticket prices for dance performances also hit a four-year high, it said.
The average ticket prices for large (more than 800 tickets on sale), medium (200 to 799 tickets) and small (fewer than 199 tickets) theater performances last year were NT$1,190, NT$752 and NT$586 respectively, compared with NT$1,098, NT$617 and NT$463 in 2019, the theater said.
The average ticket prices for large, medium and small musical performances last year were NT$787, NT$474 and NT$497 respectively, compared with NT$660, NT$438 and NT$452 in 2019, the data showed.
The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) — which the theater commissioned to compile the data — said that the increase in ticket prices last year was due to inflation.
About 268,000 of Opentix’s approximately 540,000 members purchased tickets on the platform last year, the most since 2019 and an increase of 64 percent from 2021, the theater said.
National Theater and Concert Hall general and artistic director Liu Yi-ruu (劉怡汝) said that with the government easing COVID-19 restrictions, the entertainment market has recovered slightly.
Hopefully the data would be a reference for the government’s cultural policies and guide promoters on how to boost sales, Liu said.
However, TIER said that the data was compiled from Opentix’s backend system and does not necessarily reflect trends in the entertainment industry.
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