During the National Day holiday, the Hong Kong SAR government collaborated with various sectors to launch multiple cultural and leisure promotional activities to celebrate the festival with citizens. Among these, the "Half-Price Movie" event launched by commercial cinemas across Hong Kong on October 1st sparked a ticket-buying frenzy. Many cinema ticketing systems faced high concurrent access pressure within short periods, resulting in queue congestion with maximum estimated waiting times reaching 99 minutes. In contrast, Emperor Cinemas, Cinema City, and other theaters maintained stable performance, with their systems continuing to operate smoothly under high traffic impact, providing audiences with seamless seat selection and ticket purchasing experiences. This success was attributed to the effective support of DAMAI ENT's Phoenix Cloud Intelligence iCIRENA smart system.
Phoenix Cloud Intelligence is a digital operation and management platform created by DAMAI ENT (01060) for cinemas, currently covering 5,600 cinema complexes in mainland China with the largest market share in the industry. In March 2024, leveraging years of practical experience in the mainland film market, the international version of Phoenix Cloud Intelligence iCIRENA smart system officially debuted during the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market.
The outstanding performance of Phoenix Cloud Intelligence iCIRENA during this National Day movie peak was attributed to its pure native cloud system architecture and advanced algorithmic technology. The system broke through the technical bottlenecks of traditional cinema management software, achieving major breakthroughs in data processing capabilities and system performance optimization.
Cinema operators using the iCIRENA smart system reported, "The iCIRENA system performed excellently, especially on the pre-sale day of 'Half-Price Movie.' When other cinema systems faced congestion and failures, iCIRENA consistently provided a smooth ticket purchasing experience, undoubtedly increasing our sales." Another cinema staff member noted, "iCIRENA shows significant improvement in stability compared to our previous system. Its core advantage lies in real-time response capabilities to market feedback, allowing dynamic adjustment of screening strategies based on real-time data."
Additionally, the comprehensive system functions of Phoenix Cloud Intelligence iCIRENA provide greater convenience for cinemas' "Movie+" business operations. "With iCIRENA's support, audiences can easily purchase popcorn and snacks online, helping our cinema increase revenue."
The performance differences among various cinema systems during this National Day period reflect the technological divide in the film industry's digital transformation process. The digital operation and management model represented by Phoenix Cloud Intelligence iCIRENA not only enhanced the overall performance and user experience of ticketing systems but also explored more possibilities for technological advancement and innovative development in the film industry.
As audiences' demands for online ticket purchasing experiences continue to rise, stable, efficient, and intelligent ticketing systems have become an important component of cinemas' core competitiveness. The successful implementation of Phoenix Cloud Intelligence iCIRENA during this "Half-Price Movie" event provides a referenceable digital upgrade pathway for the industry, potentially accelerating smart cinema construction in Hong Kong into a new phase.