Financial Times

Tired of standing in long lines to purchase tickets at movie theatres? Well, there is a simple and convenient way of avoiding all this hassle. It’s called e-Ticketing and it is bringing the local movie theatre experience into the new millennium.

Ceylinco Internet Services launched the e-Ticketing website in August where reservations can be made online and over the phone after logging onto the website www.eTickets.lk, providing the required information including ID details and registering as a user. Registration is free until August 21 and after that there is an annual fee of Rs.250. When picking up the pre-ordered tickets at the cinema, the user’s NIC number will be used to verify identity.

Liberty Cinema at Kollupitiya and Majestic Cinema at Bambalapitiya are currently connected to the website which provides a synopsis of the movies showing at each of the venues including show times. Simply click on the "buy" icon and select the show date, show time, seat class and seats (a box plan is provided for your convenience). In addition to the ticket price, there is a reservation fee of Rs.25 per ticket.

An e-ticket or reference number will be sent to the user via email and SMS as well as printed on the receipt after the completion of payment. Payments are made through a secure site using either Mastercard or Visa credit cards.

According to Ceylinco Internet Services General Manager Rohan Sirisena, the response so far has been tremendous. "We have around 650 members," he said. "I would say that 60% of users have made reservations over the Internet. The remaining 40% have made reservations through the phone." He said the website has plans to add other theatres such as Savoy 1 and 2 as well as Regal Cinema in the very near future. Due to some "business reasons," he said online booking for Superman being screened at the Majestic Cinema has not yet been activated but should be up and running soon.