Just a decade ago, a large part of the commercial operations of the Oceanogràfic of Valencia still worked manually. Undated physical vouchers, telephone reservations and an advance sales forecast that was difficult to control. In May 2026, all this has been turned upside down.
The transformation began in 2015 when Avanqua took over the management of Europe's largest aquarium with one goal: to modernize the visitor experience and professionalize the entire digital strategy of the enclosure. The Oceanogràfic needed its own website, an online sales platform and a tool capable of accompanying the growth of one of Valencia's most important tourist and cultural spaces.
"At that time, we considered having our own tool, but it was discarded. We saw that Experticket would be more up to date with the needs of the market in general and would offer us functionalities that we wouldn't even have to ask for, because SaaS itself is constantly transforming ."
"We have been growing hand in hand," emphasizes Marta Sanz, head of Sales at the Oceanogràfic, who has experienced this whole process first hand and who highlights the value of the commitment that came with trusting Experticket when it was a SaaS that was just starting to operate.
At that time, the digital model practically did not exist in the park and the organization needed to build an operation capable of managing both direct sales and B2B distribution. The ability to evolve, as Sanz says, helped a lot; both in integrations with hotels, travel agencies and other partners. It is precisely in certain groups, where it has been most noticeable: today, agencies can autonomously manage the purchase and download tickets directly. " This makes the process much faster," says Marta.
Flexibility is now a prerequisite in the B2B sector, as evidenced by the implementation of new financial tools at the Oceanogràfic. Marta Sanz, Head of Sales at the venue, emphasizes that the adoption of ExperTicket has enabled them to integrate solutions that were previously unthinkable: "Having different payment methods, such as the balance exchange where the customer deposits an amount and then consumes it, has been very good for us; previously the only option was credit, which involves a risk, or prepayment via transfer, which slows down operations." With this system, the Oceanogràfic has managed to eliminate the administrative friction, guaranteeing an immediate purchase for the agency and total financial security for the site.
Before digitization, the lack of information on advance sales was one of the main headaches in the management of the Oceanogràfic. Marta remembers when the hotels worked for years with physical vouchers and, later, with printed vouchers that were given directly to the visitor. No one really knew how many people would arrive until they showed up at the ticket office.
This method brought with it last-minute overexertion for the work team, which, on those occasions when the attendance forecast was not correct, could fall short if it was not adequately reinforced.
The platform made it possible to centralize online sales, automate processes and digitize the relationship with agencies and collaborators. Many tasks that previously depended on the contact center were now managed directly from the system by the agencies themselves. " All that manual work disappeared," explained the aquarium, which in 2025 welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors.
Automation made it possible to operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and to streamline group management, as well as offering much more autonomy to the different sales channels. But the most important change came in the form of control and forecasting.
"Experticket allows us to have more control over advance sales and is very important today, especially during peak seasons."
Thanks to advance sales and the digitization of accesses, the Oceanogràfic can now forecast visitor flows, anticipate the busiest days and better distribute its resources throughout the day. This has not only improved internal operations, but also the experience inside the Oceanogràfic.
However, the team recognizes that the ticketing sector is undergoing a new technological revolution marked by artificial intelligence and the speed of digital change. From Oceanogràfic they observe with interest all these new possibilities, although they also point out the challenge of landing all this technological innovation in the operations of companies. "Technology is advancing at breakneck speed and companies need to use it in a useful way," they explain.
Beyond technology, the Oceanogràfic focuses on another aspect that it considers fundamental in the park's evolution over the last decade: its environmental and marine conservation work. One of the greatest challenges and the one that generates most "pride" within the organization was the rescue of beluga whales from the Ukraine and the initiatives for the recovery and conservation of marine species and local fauna.