Superbly Positioned, Schulenberg Knows No Standstill

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, CTS Eventim CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg has been convinced that “the stresses imposed on our company must be seen as a trial of our strengths. That is the basis on which we act. Our prudent economic management in the past has proven itself very well. We will leave this crisis behind us debt-free. That’s why we see ourselves as superbly positioned when live shows return to concert halls and our business revives.”

Aside from a massive ticketing operation, the Eventim Live network comprises 36 promoters in 15 countries. Making sure everybody was on board with the group strategy required “transparency, openness and honesty when communicating with our staff, who knew they could rely on us getting through this crisis together.”

During the crisis there was “no such thing as standstill” for the steadfast Schulenberg. Several major strategic initiatives were undertaken to position the company even better than before, especially internationally. Following the establishment of a partnership with esteemed promoter Michael Cohl in 2020, CTS Eventim is now also present in Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, Eventim Live Asia, led by the recently appointed Jason Miller, will focus on growing live entertainment markets in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. In Germany, where Schulenberg set the course for success when developing a revolutionary ticketing software in 1997, CTS Eventim added The DreamHaus agency to its network, which, together with eventimpresents, will promote the legendary Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals. In Italy, CTS Eventim is planning and building the 16,000-capacity MSG Arena in Milan.

At press time, the world was still a patchwork of different approaches to dealing with coronavirus. While fairly open, the UK announced that only full vaccination will get people through doors after September, with France and Germany embracing similar policies. Austria, Switzerland, Italy and others were working or had already implemented some form of a COVID pass. CTS Eventim is supporting the restart of live events with its own software for checking digital health certificates.

It will probably take a while before the restrictions are completely lifted again and we are back to where our industry used to be before the pandemic started,” Schulenberg reckons. “The most important thing is that concerts can be done profitably again.”