Low Ticket Sales Hang Over PyeongChang Preparations

(ATR) PyeongChang 2018 says it is confident of reaching sales targets for Winter Olympics tickets despite less than 25 percent of tickets sold.

Newly released figures from the PyeongChang 2018 organizing committee show that only 52,000 domestic tickets have been sold. In addition, 191,000 tickets have been sold to other clients such as authorized ticket resellers, sponsors, and National Olympic Committees.

With around five months to go until the 2018 Games PyeongChang is reporting only 22.7 percent of total tickets sold. At a similar time ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympics, organizing committee officials were reporting 50 percent sales.

PyeongChang 2018 will commence online sales on Sep. 5, hoping to boost the woeful numbers. Organizers received 380,000 application requests for tickets during the initial lottery.

"Koreans are known to be last-minute buyers so we expect to see an increase in sales in the 2nd phase as the Games get closer," a PyeongChang 2018 spokesperson said to Around the Rings. "Also some sports have not finished qualification and Koreans often like to see who's competing before buying."

Qualification for the PyeongChang Games will continue as the winter sports season begins. For example, groups for the ice hockey tournament have been set, but the full schedule has not been finalized.

One ticketing agent told ATR that "we have no reason to believe" that ticket sales would not increase once matchups were known.

Long travel times and lack of concrete accommodation plans are also factors keeping tourists from deciding to come to PyeongChang. Representatives from various Authorized Ticket Resellers tell ATR that there remains demand for high profile events, but that is the same for every Olympics.

"Indoor events have been more popular than the mountain events, but as the Games draw closer I am certain that customers will increase their scope, or purchase more tickets as they realize the mountain events are quite close and accessible," another ticket agent said to ATR.

Many ticket packages are being sold without concrete accommodations, as hotels continue to be finalized. At the final Coordination Commission meeting, IOC Executive Director Christophe Dubi told reporters that the situation has improved greatly in the last few months. Dubi said there had been "steady progress" in hotel completion timelines.

"What I said during the [Executive Board meetings] was there was some tight timelines and those hotels needed to be followed up closely," Dubi said. "At this point in time we are feeling much more comfortable in this respect."

Compounding the problems were strict rules that prevented ticketing companies from promoting packages until early this year. PyeongChang 2018 tickets went on sale in February, coinciding with the one year to go milestone. Alan Dizdarevic, a ticketing director from CoSport, said to ATR he would not be surprised if a final uptick in sales comes during the Games as viewers see successful competition broadcast.

"We think PyeongChang will have a great Games regardless of some of the challenges that may arise," Dizdarevic said. "It will still be a fantastic sporting event. It’s the Olympic Games, you can’t go wrong by attending. I think people will be very pleasantly surprised."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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