One Month to Winter Olympics Tickets

(ATR) Tickets for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang go on sale one month from today, Feb. 9, the one-year mark to opening ceremony.

Originally planned to begin last October, the ticketing delay gives PyeongChang 2018 the shortest window to sell tickets than any other recent Winter Games. According to the PyeongChang bid book, $301 million is budgeted for ticketing revenue.

The postponed launch applies to domestic as well as international sales handled by authorized ticket resellers such as U.S.- based Jet Set Sports/CoSport, the world’s largest. In addition to the U.S., the company handles sales in Sweden, Russia, Australia and Norway, as the official ticket agent for the NOCs in those countries.

"It’s a very unknown place, like Sochi," Jet Set CEO Alan Dizdarevic tells Around the Rings about the challenge ahead to attract overseas visitors to the first Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Dizdarevic, who recently visited the Olympic region, says the mostly rural area has its appeal.

"I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. You have to flexible, look at it as an experience," says Dizdarevic.

Although the PyeongChang region has thousands of beds for Olympic visitors, the accommodations are primarily designed for Koreans who flock to the area for summer holidays.

"We are working with hotels to upgrade services and we’ve found them accommodating to our suggestions," says Dizdarevic.

He says Seoul, 300 km from PyeongChang, will draw visitors for shopping and other attractions. But even with a new high speed rail cutting the travel time to about 60 minutes, Dizdarevic says he expects most Olympic visitors will find it best to stay close to the venues.

With venues distributed compactly in two main venue clusters, Dizdaraveic says ticket holders can take in as many as four vents in one day, unusual for a Winter Games.

Seoul will be advantageous for air travel notes Dizdarevic. Compared to Sochi or even Rio, Seoul offers many more flight options than these two most recent Olympic hosts.

Dizdarevic says the cost of coming to South Korea will be comparable to past Winter Olympics. Tickets range from $17 to $750 for sports events, upwards of $1300 for ceremonies, in line with Sochi.

He admits that the pending decision on whether the NHL will send players to PyeongChang has created "some uncertainty". He says the popularity of the sport is such that he does not expect the NHL decision to impact ticket sales for the Games.

But PyeongChang organizers may discover that without NHL players on the ice next year, $750 for a ticket may be a stretch for the men’s ice hockey final, the costliest sports ticket for the 2018 Olympics.

Written by Ed Hula.