Sales & Marketing

Olympic chiefs left cold by poor PyeongChang ticket sales

PyeongChang 2018 organisers have been urged to boost promotion and ticket sales by Olympic chiefs.

Ticket sales for the February event are flagging, with South Koreans having so far bought fewer than 10 per cent of the 750,000 domestic tickets available, with a new round of sales having started this month.

While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is pleased with preparations, Reuters reports that this week’s Congress in Lima, Peru heard that PyeongChang officials must now look to promotion.

“All (Games) fundamental principles are in place and this is very reassuring,” the IOC’s coordination commission chief Gunilla Linberg told the IOC session.

“When all fundamentals are in place the focus shifts to operational readiness, promotion and legacy.”

Some 320,000 tickets have been sold internationally, however the escalating North Korean crisis threatens to affect them, according to international winter sports federation officials.

Games president Lee Hee-beom said organisers were now enforcing their backup plan and trying to achieve “full stadia” by mobilising 17 local governments and schools to boost sales.

“Tickets is one of the priority agendas. When we began ticket sales in February until April 23 we found that (demand) for short track, figure skating and ice hockey — high-demand games — was three, four times above,” he said.

“Low-demand competitions — some snow venues, cross-country and Paralympic Games — there demand was less than 10, 20 per cent.”

Last month Lee blamed Authorised Ticket Resellers (ATRs) for poor international ticket sales, although half the 320,000 available are now believed to have been purchased. However, the escalating North Korean crisis threatens to affect them, according to international winter sports federation officials.

“There was never going to be a big number of visitors to Pyeongchang but with the North Korea situation, some who had planned to go might now stay away,” a senior winter sports official told Reuters.

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