A New Dimension of Fan Engagement at Starlite Occident – How 3D Digital Venue and vivenu Transform Live Entertainment Tech

How do you sell a seat before your fans even set foot in the venue? By making it real – visually, emotionally, digitally. That’s exactly what happened at one of Spain’s most iconic music events, the Starlite Occident Festival, where vivenu partnered with 3D Digital Venue (3DDV) to bring a new dimension of fan engagement to an outstanding live entertainment event. Starlite Occident, a boutique festival in Marbella now in its 14th edition, runs for over 60 nights of concerts each summer. With an intimate venue capacity of 2,200 seats per show, every seat is precious, and every fan wants the perfect view. Now, thanks to a full digital twin of the Starlite auditorium and lounge, fans can explore 360º views from their exact seats before they buy. It’s a virtual experience that makes the thrill of the event tangible early on, and it’s powered seamlessly by vivenu’s open platform integration.

Turning Ticket Buying into a 360° Experience

Instead of guessing what the stage looks like from Row 10 or how the VIP lounge overlooks the arena, Starlite fans can immerse themselves in an interactive seat map and “drop” directly into any seat for a panoramic view. And this goes far beyond the normal 3D models of stadiums that try to showcase views.

The ticket purchase flow now includes an embedded 3D viewer, so choosing seats isn’t just a transaction – it’s part of the experience. Every detail of the venue’s digital twin is rendered with remarkable accuracy (within 99.9% of the real view, according to 3DDV’s tech specs), giving buyers confidence that what they see is what they’ll get on show night. This innovation has effectively turned the ticketing page into a virtual venue tour. Some key features of the Starlite 3D seat preview integration include:

• Exact seat-level previews: Fans can inspect the view from each seat in the Starlite amphitheater, whether it’s front-row center or up in Gallery 3
• No more uncertainty about sightlines or stage distance – the 360° seat perspective makes everything clear.
• Seamless integration into ticketing: The 3D viewer is built right into the vivenu ticket shop. Fans don’t need to download a separate app or navigate away; it’s a smooth plug-in within the familiar purchase process. Vivenu’s API-first platform made it straightforward to embed 3DDV’s interactive maps directly on the site, with real-time seat availability and selection synced to the ticketing system
• Customizable for any layout: Whether an open-air festival, a multi-tier theater, or a stadium, the technology adapts to different venue configurations. 3D Digital Venue’s assets are designed to work across any ticketing flow or seating map, making this solution applicable well beyond Starlite

And the best part? It’s far more accessible to implement than it may sound. With the right infrastructure and partners, any ticketing manager can launch this in days – not months. In Starlite’s case, vivenu and 3DDV were able to roll out the digital twin integration on a very tight timeline, just in time for the festival’s opening nights. The vivenu platform’s flexibility (designed with open APIs and modular components) meant that what could be a complex development project on older systems was instead a quick plugin activation. No heavy custom development or long downtimes – the 3D seat view feature went live in a matter of days, fitting seamlessly into Starlite’s existing online ticket shop.

Real Results: More Confidence, Higher Conversions

This immersive approach isn’t just a cool gimmick – it’s delivering concrete benefits. Fans love the feature, and their behavior proves it. In one early deployment of vivenu + 3DDV (at Inselpark Arena in Germany), 7% of ticket buyers engaged with the 360° seat viewer, spending an average of 23 seconds exploring their seat views before purchase. That extra time spent engaging translates into more informed, confident customers – and ultimately more sales. Events that introduce 3D seat previews have seen online conversion rates jump from around 5% to 9% of site visitors.

This is a huge lift in ticket conversions (nearly 80% improvement in that example), meaning significantly more fans are completing their purchase rather than abandoning due to uncertainty. For a festival like Starlite Occident, which markets itself on providing a premium, up-close experience, the 3D digital twin has been a perfect fit. It amplifies the festival’s selling points: exclusivity, “front-row” feels, and a personalized experience. A fan browsing the lineup can click on, say, the night that Tom Jones is performing, select a seat in the intimate quarry-turned-auditorium, and see exactly the view of the stage and surrounding venue from that seat. It builds excitement and trust. By the time they proceed to checkout, they’re already imagining themselves there – hearing the crystal-clear audio Starlite prides itself on, and soaking in the unique atmosphere of that venue. This emotional prelude helps turn browsers into buyers. From an operational perspective, the integration is also driving higher-value sales. 

Anecdotally, Starlite’s ticketing team (operated via Tickex Live on the vivenu platform) noted that fans are more willing to opt for premium seating or VIP upgrades when they can visualize the difference. If a customer can toggle between a standard seat view and a VIP box view, the added perspective can justify the higher price point – they see the extra comfort or sightline advantage they’d be paying for. This kind of visual upselling is now possible without a single sales pitch – the imagery speaks for itself. It’s a great example of how modern ticketing technology can increase spend per attendee by aligning with fan preferences, not by adding friction.

Speed, Convenience, and a “Wow” Moment Before Show Time

Perhaps one of the most telling signs of success is how quickly this feature became a natural part of Starlite’s customer journey. Fans now expect to “tour” their seat before buying, and delivering that is creating a new kind of pre-event buzz. As Francis Casado, Co-Founder & CRO of 3D Digital Venue, puts it:

“Creating a digital twin that brings fans closer to the experience before they even arrive is not just about innovation — it’s about speed, convenience, and delivering an extra ‘wow’ moment that builds anticipation before the event even starts.”

That “wow moment” is invaluable. It extends the fan experience to the very moment of ticket purchase – premium experiences start long before showtime. By the time a ticket buyer completes the order, they’re not only financially committed but also emotionally invested in the event. They’ve virtually sat in their seat, looked around the venue, and started picturing the night of the concert. The excitement is already building weeks or months ahead of the actual show. For event organizers, this is a dream scenario. It means attendees show up to the venue with higher expectations and greater enthusiasm, and often with fewer complaints or uncertainties (“I didn’t realize my seat was off to the side,” etc., are now largely eliminated). The organizer benefits from happier customers and a more efficient sales funnel. 

After all, fan expectations are rising across live entertainment – today’s audiences, especially post-pandemic, are digitally savvy and accustomed to rich online experiences. Being able to “try before you buy” in ticketing – much like checking reviews and photos before booking a hotel – is quickly moving from novelty to necessity. Early adopters like Starlite are reaping the benefits of higher engagement and conversion now, while others will surely catch on.

More Than a Seat Map – A Glimpse into Ticketing’s Future

What we see with Starlite Occident’s 3D venue map is more than just a neat feature; it’s a shift in how organizers think about the ticket-buying journey. Ticketing is no longer a back-end task that ends when the payment goes through – it’s becoming an end-to-end experience that begins the moment a fan starts considering an event. Vivenu’s philosophy has long been that ticketing should be treated as a core part of fan engagement and revenue strategy, not a siloed utility. This case brings that philosophy to life. Starlite’s digital twin wasn’t built just because it’s flashy; it was built because it materializes business value. It reduces customer hesitation (leading to more ticket sales), potentially lowers customer service loads (fewer seat-related complaints or refund requests), and differentiates the event in a crowded market. In an era where live events compete not only with each other but also with all forms of digital entertainment for consumer attention, offering a high-tech, interactive purchasing experience can be a competitive edge. It says to the fan, this event is premium, cutting-edge, and well-organized.

Ultimately, the Starlite story underscores the transformative power of enterprise-grade infrastructure. Vivenu’s platform didn’t just process the ticket orders; it powered this innovation by being integration-friendly and reliable at scale. During the festival’s peak on-sales, there were zero downtime issues even as rich 3D content was being loaded alongside inventory data – a testament to vivenu’s scalability and robustness. The success at Starlite is proof that even a festival with decades of history can leap into the future when its ticketing tech is flexible and modern. And for vivenu, it’s another step toward our vision of equipping all premier events around the globe with the enterprise platform that turns ticketing from mere transactions into memorable journeys.