30 years ago, Vista software went live for the very first time. This single ticketing software solution, developed for our long-standing friends at Village Entertainment, marked the beginning of a long and storied journey.

Three decades later, as Vista now empowers exhibitors across the global cinema industry, we were incredibly proud to welcome friends and clients from around the world join us in Auckland, where it all began, for VistaCon26.

With 30 years of experience guiding us, we remain focused on building a bright future for the cinema industry. With the theme of VistaCon26, Illuminate, we shone a light on new ways for cinemas to operate with greater efficiency and effectiveness, while elevating the moviegoer experience across every step of the guest journey.

Building the future of the cinema industry

Over the course of the week with our clients and partners, we explored how Vista is evolving our solutions to meet a rapidly-changing industry and a dynamic global market, from entirely new offerings to refinements of the Vista Cloud journey, as well as how we work with new technology and our clients’ needs at the heart of everything we do.

Kicking off VistaCon26, we were very excited to announce Vista Payments, bringing payment processing seamlessly into the Vista ecosystem. With support from our technology partner, Adyen, Vista Payments will give exhibitors a smoother, more secure, and insight-driven way to manage payments across their entire business.

Vista Cloud continues to grow with transparency with our rolling two-year development roadmap, driven by the needs of our clients. Spotlight sessions throughout the week highlighted innovations across pricing, assisted scheduling and forecasting, food and beverage, personalisation, guest self-service, and the desire to unleash data—all to empower the vision and goals our clients have for their cinemas’ future.

Innovating with purpose in AI

Vista is committed to adopting new tools and technology to support our clients to fulfil their vision and evolve their cinemas in bold and exciting ways. Among these tools, we take a thoughtful, deliberate approach to leveraging AI, harnessing its opportunities to build on Vista’s position as a system of record, action, and engagement.

Many of our spotlight sessions over the conference showcased how we remain focused with AI, empowering our clients with new insights and innovations across our connected ecosystem.

Horizon unifies a circuit’s data in a single source of truth, and through AI, surfaces real-time insights and opportunities to empower decision making. Likewise, we are using AI to elevate forecasting, scheduling, pricing, and more with exciting developments ahead.

From natural language dashboards and API creation, to AI algorithms for propensity, personas, customer lifetime value and churn, AI is accelerating Vista’s connected platform with new opportunities that have us genuinely excited.

Connection, experience, and innovation

Alongside new details of Vista products and developments, the conference brought together expertise from across our industry and others to help illuminate the future of cinema.

A panel of international experts in technology, guest experience, cinema, and more joined us to explore how cinemas can evolve, leveraging technology, personalisation, and innovation to remain relevant and thrive. Enjoy this insightful discussion soon on a special episode of the Behind the Screens podcast.

Looking to the next thirty years

“I return home both "illuminated" and affirmed that Wallis Entertainment is on the right technological path to continue our growth and customer service success.” — Ben Huxtable, CEO of Wallis Entertainment

Coming together with clients, partners, and friends from across the world for VistaCon26 was an incredible opportunity to learn and engage. After 30 years in the cinema industry, Vista is proud to support our clients as we shape the future through innovation and experience together.

With new developments on the Vista roadmap, refinement of service, and more to explore, we are excited to continue showcasing Vista’s innovation at industry events throughout the year, and we look forward to seeing you there.

‍