Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, some film releases have been on hold, and for Julian Fernández, director of analysis at Bursamérica, the chains must rethink their financial strategies. “It is not only the issue of generating income, selling tickets and keeping companies open. If admissions don’t recover in 2022, companies are going to start tightening up their operating circle more and re-engineering by closing the lowest-performing rooms,” he says.
The ghost of inflation
Even with signs of recovery, movie theaters are threatened by two villains: the fifth wave of COVID-19 in Mexico and inflation. Regarding infections, which have rebounded in recent weeks in Mexico, the director of Canacine trusts the health protocols of the complexes, which range from the disinfection of the rooms to the use of face masks.
Meanwhile, inflation hardens and during June the national average of a movie ticket was priced at 69 pesos, although the costs vary by area. While in Monterrey the lowest price was 30 pesos, in a cinema in Mexico City it was up to 203 pesos.according to data from Inegi.
For the director of Canacine, the absence of a generalized price for admission to the cinema and its differentiation by geographical area opens the opportunity for people to access the cinema and not see it as an “expensive” activity.
For now, the increase in prices that the world is experiencing, and to which Mexico is no stranger, is taking its toll on the industry. Given this environment, the chains that operate in the country offer discounts and promotions at the box office and candy store to mitigate its effects.
“For 10 years the price of the ticket had not been raised and it had not been updated for inflation. Right now they can’t not raise prices, and the issue of COVID-19 has increased air conditioning costs. The protocols have made operating the cinema costly and this has made it inevitable to raise prices,” he declares.