August 15, 2020 - You'll be able to go to the movies again from Thursday 20 August

After almost five months of closure, Croatia's cinemas are reopening their doors. The country's largest cinema chain, CineStar, will begin showing films again on Thursday 20 August, with the second-largest, Cineplexx starting their screenings six days later.

The Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) released epidemiological recommendations for multiplex cinemas on Monday. There will be a necessary one seat gap between each group visiting the cinemas, which will automatically occur in all bookings made in advance online and on the day at the box office. A distance of 1.5 meters must be observed in the hall or lobby in the cinemas between each group. The measures are expected to reduce cinema capacity to 50%.

Other cinema epidemiological recommendations include:

- Regular hand disinfection, coughing into the elbow or handkerchief.

- Masks are not mandatory in the hall.

- Air conditioning is permitted but must be thoroughly cleaned.

- A distance of 1.5 meters or one place must be observed by people inside the halls.

- Every other seat will be empty; families and people from the same household can sit next to each other.

- Customers should leave the screenings "one by one", with visitors closest to the exit coming out first.

- The start of screenings to be staggered to reduce large groups congregating in lobbies at the same time.

- It is recommended to keep the details of visitors buying tickets online.

- Protective barriers and ensuring contactless payment are mandatory when buying at the box office.

Cinestar's cinemas include 23 multiplexes with 145 digitised halls in eleven cities across the Republic of Croatia.

As Sergej Novosel Vuckovic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 9th of April, 2019, the Cinestar cinema chain is the best cinema exhibitor in the whole of Europe, and Blitz-Cinestar is a true example of a company whose achievements, projects, growth and leadership in the industry continue to new standards and push the boundaries of this field.

The well known cinema chain won its new prestigious title after being rated by the International Cinema Association (UNIC), which brings together cinemas from 37 European countries and surrounding regions.

The award will be accepted by co-founder and board member of Blitz-Cinestar Hrvoje Krstulović in June at the CineEurope Cinemas Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

As previously stated, Cinestar's cinemas include 23 multiplexes with 145 digitised halls across eleven cities in the Republic of Croatia from Zagreb down to Dubrovnik, as well as in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, with more than 23,000 seats in total, and a majority of 4.8 million cinema tickets sold in Croatia (according to CBS) for Cinestar's cinema halls.

This chain of multiplexes, which has been being managed by Blitz-Cinestar since the beginning of 2003, is the largest cinema in Croatia's close region. After Split Cinestar's 4DX in the Mall of Split won an award for the best European cinema in Europe last year, winning the title of the best cinema chain on the continent is the shining gem of this company's impressive business crown.

"It's an extraordinary honour to be able to receive this valuable CineEurope award and a pleasure and [a source of] pride that our profession has recognised our constant efforts and investments, as well as our knowledge. Our vision of a five star cinema was clearly a hit. CineStar has become a synonym for the best cinema experience in Europe, we've created a new generation of cinema chain in which we've brought some revolutionary formats like Imax, 4DX, created the Gold Class and Kaptol Boutique Cinema concepts, and destination cinemas with bars and various amenities where visitors like to spend time and everyone finds something to suit them,'' Krstulović stated.

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Click here for the original article by Sergej Novosel Vuckovic for Poslovni Dnevnik