Cavanaughs To Expand Ticketing Operations

With the expectation that more dollars will be spent on entertainment and lodging in the coming years, Cavanaughs Hospital ity Corp. of Spokane has set plans for expansion of its G&B Select-a-Seat ticketing operation.

Cavanaughs said it signed a deal this week with Lasergate Systems Inc. - a Clearwater, Fla., company that makes Select-a-Seat software - which will allow Cavanaughs to sell tickets in new areas.

The agreement has the potential to expand Cavanaughs’ ticketing business into Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Alaska and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The current license agreement with Lasergate only gave Cavanaughs the right to sell tickets on site in Washington and part of Montana.

Donald Barbieri, president and CEO of Cavanaughs, would not comment on specific expansion of the ticketing business, but he did say it’s likely in the next two quarters. Barbieri added that the expansion campaign would not be a high-cost move for the company.

According to Cavanaughs annual report, the company’s ticketing business in 1998 accounted for about 5 percent of its $86.3 million in total revenues. And since 1994, growth of the ticketing division has been relatively flat.

But as aging baby boomers and others increasingly look for short getaways, Barbieri said, Cavanaughs wants to make entertainment and hotel packages a larger part of its business mix.

Additionally, Cavanaughs wants to strengthen its Select-a-Seat brand name, hoping to establish the service as a reasonably priced alternative to national firms, such as Ticketmaster.

In February, Cavanaughs said it was attempting to buy Lasergate - a move that was viewed as a way for the company to gain full control of the Select-a-Seat software.

Although the deal did not materialize, Barbieri said the new Lasergate agreement will give Cavanaughs the software control it was seeking. It also will allow for Cavanaughs to increase ticket sales on the Internet.

Cavanaughs already allows buyers to purchase tickets online. The planned Web site changes are designed to speed purchases.

Jim Bellessa, an analyst with D.A. Davidson in Great Falls, Mont., said expansion of Cavanaughs ticketing operation likely will have no immediate bottom-line impact.

But Bellessa added that the venture should be viewed as a growth area for the company and will complement Cavanaughs’ hotel services - especially during slower winter months.

Cavanaughs operates 19 hotels in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Utah.