Mobile ticketing transaction volumes, including contactless, in-app and mobile messaging ticket purchases, will increase from 6.8bn transactions in 2020 to 16.9bn in 2022, heralding a permanent shift towards contactless ticketing, according to a forecast by Juniper Research.

Contactless ticketing in particular will recover “strongly”, with transaction values growing from US$6bn in 2020, exceeding 2019 figures in 2021 and reaching US$25bn by 2023.

“Juniper Research anticipates this to be a permanent shift, with users increasingly accustomed to the speed and convenience of contactless payments over cash and preferring a touch-free payment experience in an attempt to avoid contact with the virus,” researchers say.

Increasing deployment of contactless and in-app ticketing in the US will lead to “high growth” in the country, with the research predicting a 220% increase in mobile ticketing transaction volume between 2020 and 2023.

Mobile ticketing for sport and entertainment events will recover more slowly, however, with the researchers predicting that mobile ticketing purchase values in these sectors will not grow beyond 2019 levels until 2023.

The research does suggest, however, “that mobile ticketing will play a key role in addressing safety concerns and rejuvenating the events industry”.

“The successful implementation of mobile ticketing is crucial to restoring consumer confidence in entertainment venues, putting the pressure on ticketing vendors to facilitate this urgent requirement,” says research author Susannah Hampton.

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