Jump to content

Recommended Posts

From The Korea Herald, I got this information regarding the ticket sale

http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20171011000896#cb

Quote

The organizing committee for the Winter Games on Wednesday released preliminary numbers for ticket sales, which showed that 30.3 percent of 1.07 million tickets have been sold so far. About 20.7 percent of 760,000 tickets released to the Korean general public have been sold, while 59.7 percent of 320,000 tickets reserved for foreigners have been sold.

In other words, the foreign ticket sales have been a success while, ironically, the national sales have been a hot mess so far. This pretty much shows up the very low interest most koreans seem to have toward the Winter Olympics.

Of course, the organizing Comittee says koreans usually tend to buy tickets at last minute, so they say we shouldn't worry about and that the sales will increase eventually. Not sure if believing that, though, when I also read booking for Hotels in Pyeongchang has also been almost non-existant. 

 

But wait...it gets worse. If you thought the 2018 Olympics are having issues with Ticket sales, you haven't seen the trainwreck the Paralympics seem to be into.

Only 0.2 pct. of PyeongChang Paralympics tickets sold: lawmaker

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2017/10/27/0200000000AEN20171027005800315.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Barcelona_'92 said:

This is a total embarrassment.  Even if sales pick up, there are still going to be many events with almost empty stands.  I understand wanting to bring the Games to new places, but I have to wonder how much the IOC regrets not giving these Games to Munich.

You CAN"T give a games to a place that doesn't want them.  It's just a bad place -- especially if the Devil of the North, Kim Jung Un, starts rattling more sabers by February, more people will just stay home, even if they bought tickets!  They should just nuke PyongYANG for the finale of the Opening Ceremony!! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At least the South Koreans aren't talking about cancelling the Paralympics, like a certain Summer Olympic host last year did, due to budget concerns. 

And would having Munich hosting next year instead have been any better, considering the dire state of the Olympics these days? Especially when 2018 was awarded well before budget-blowing Sochi 2014 took place, & also when (western) Europe is mainly where we're seeing the drastic decline in cities wanting to host.

Perhaps Munich would've been having different sorts of issues regarding the upcoming Winter Games & people there maybe starting to revolt against the Olympics (which the IOC doesn't need anymore of). Wasn't it the Garmish-Partenkirshen venues where the bid committee was having issues with the citizens there? Anyway, I think hindsight is always 20/20 & some people will always have the 'grass is greener on the other side' syndrome. All in all though, PC 2018 should be a relative success.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Enlighten me in case I'm wrong but didn't the leadup to Torino 12 years ago also had us worried about the overall atmosphere and interest of the general italian populace for the games? I remember most italians didn't even knew the games were happening and most prefered going to Serie A matches than to the Olympics. But I also remember the asistance to the games was overall decent (though Vancouver did much better on those aspects due to Canada populace overall love and interest for winter sports)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, that's correct. And security looks to have been a sticking point, too:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/sports/sportsspecial1/olympic-fever-isnt-contagious-in-italy.html

But it looks in the end, the Italians did embrace the (winter) Games:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/sports/olympics/italians-end-up-treating-the-games-like-their-own.html

I guess it's just par for the course with the Olympics. People always scrutinize to the minutia every aspect & detail of things that aren't adding up with each upcoming Games, but in the end, it always seems to work out one way or another.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Despite everything, looks like we already have the look of the Tickets.

AEN20171029001900315_01_i.jpg

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/culturesports/2017/10/29/0707000000AEN20171029001900315.html

Quote

SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- Tickets designs for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics were unveiled Sunday, while offline ticket sales are set to commence in November.

The organizing committee for the first Winter Games in South Korea said tickets will feature pictograms for each sport, with images of snowflakes in the shape of the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, in the background.

The tickets will each have a hologram, a barcode, the name of the purchaser and other security features to reduce the risk of counterfeiting.

For the first time in Olympic history, mobile tickets will be available, the organizers said.

Starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, tickets will go on sale at three main ticket centers -- Seoul City Hall, Gangwon Provincial Government and Gangneung City Hall.

Gangwon Provincial Government is located in Chuncheon, 85 kilometers east of Seoul, and Gangneung City Hall is 240 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangneung.

PyeongChang is located in Gangwon Province, and Gangneung will host all ice events during the Olympics.

Then, starting next Friday, tickets will also go on sale at ticketing centers at Incheon and Gimpo international airports, and 19 KTX train stations will start printing tickets purchased online.

Ticket holders will have free access to shuttle buses during the Olympics, among other benefits.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Ikarus360 said:

Despite everything, looks like we already have the look of the Tickets.

AEN20171029001900315_01_i.jpg

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/culturesports/2017/10/29/0707000000AEN20171029001900315.html

 

WOW!!! Awesome!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Ouch. :unsure: You know things are very bad when the Govt wants to buy tickets already. 

They insisted again Koreans tend to buy tickets at last minute but i don't know if that's true or just hardcore damage control they're doing now to cover up the gigantic disaster the ticket sales have been so far.

I would like to say the whole fault lies in the conflict with the North but SK and the Organizing Comitte also shares a lot of the blame here (a very remote place, with very expensive hotels, very few other options available and in a country where except for Short track and speed skating no one cares about winter sports. Dunno what they were expecting tbh)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Ikarus360 said:

Ouch. :unsure: You know things are very bad when the Govt wants to buy tickets already. 

They insisted again Koreans tend to buy tickets at last minute but i don't know if that's true or just hardcore damage control they're doing now to cover up the gigantic disaster the ticket sales have been so far.

I would like to say the whole fault lies in the conflict with the North but SK and the Organizing Comitte also shares a lot of the blame here (a very remote place, with very expensive hotels, very few other options available and in a country where except for Short track and speed skating no one cares about winter sports. Dunno what they were expecting tbh)

to blame the N/S Korean conflict is a very cheap excuse imo

you could have guess this whole outcome of poor attendance long before PC got handed the games - so many Events with hardly any Attendance.


The report i posted also quotes Kaspar who said something like "hopefully they gonna bring the schoolkids to the Games, because i remember in 2009 at the Snowboard Worlds i was at the finish area all alone with 2 regular spectators"

The report also said that even the Korean spectators will most likely need a hotel room, since it´s a kinda remote area and so to attend the Games is expensive even for the local Koreans.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My fears are now Beijing 2022 will experience the same issues, since they're not precisely a huge powerhouse at Winter Sports (having more or less the same record as SK on the WOG), and since its seems Hebei is as remote or even more than Pyeongchang.

Maybe what happens here will serve to China as a warning post about what not to do in 2022. They should start building hotels/accomodations as soon as possible.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

China will do what they did for 2008 - very cheap ticket prices (bar ceremonies), free transport options and they will start advertising that attending is something to enhance your social status.

The amount of locals begging for a ticket to any event at all in Beijing during the 2008 Games was astonishing - and yes I know some were just on-selling but many just wanted to see some of the Games and due to questionable ticket allocating and distribution they were not able to... It seemed weird I could easily buy tickets for over 50 sessions over a 12 day period but locals could get nothing... I ended up giving out a dozen tickets to the staff at the hotel I stayed at just so they could experience it (and got swamped the next day with them showing me pictures lol).

South Korea have just out-priced the majority of casual attendees.  They have staged the Games in an area with limited accessibility and even less accommodation options then normal and are now wondering why the tickets aren't selling.  Add in ridiculous scheduled sport starting times (Ski jumping starting around 9.30- 10pm etc) and people just can't attend.  I would be interested in attending however I just can't be arsed spending so much for an experience I doubt I'll enjoy.  There are no other really interesting things to do around Gangneung/Pyeongchang to fill in the huge time gaps between events and I'm not sure getting around will be at all easy even in the main host areas - let alone being able to get there from Seoul.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, LatinXTC said:

No they couldn't have since most residents didn't want it. You meant to say Annecy.

Given the current state of Olympicphobia in Europe, I don't know if the enthusiasm on an hypotetical Munich 2018 games would had been too different. Let alone Annecy where the national support was even worse. However maybe they could had done a much better job at selling tickets compared to this hot mess.

South Korea has a pretty bad tendency of overpricing things. The 2014 Asian Games apparently suffered of similar issues (I don't know how they maneuvered the ticket sells in Seoul 1988 but wasn't the ticket sells of the 2002 World Cup also marred with controversy by some reason?). The attractive of Pyeongchang is being a snow resort but besides that, not much really. Gangneung is supossed to be a Spa town, kinda like a mini-Sochi, but i'm clueless of whatever the city has to offer either. I guess Beijing won't have much to worry about this since they are a world wide known city with lots of attractive and history (despite the unbearable air pollution sometimes). 

The saddest thing is that this was warned many months ago but looks like they got overconfident and never listened....I hope what they say of koreans buying at last minute is true otherwise this is aiming to be an unprecedent disaster when it comes to ticket sales. I mean, the Winter Paralympics are pretty much doomed already to be one, with just 5% of the tickets sold. It's almost certain the Govt will be forced to buy the Paralympics tickets and hand them over for free.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This article by Eurosport is very interesting at trying to do an insight of what's causing the sluggish sales of tickets. They conclude that, ever since Kim Yu Na retirement from sports, as well for many of the original speed skating team, the interest on Winter Sports in South Korea started to wane, as they don't feel confident enough to go watch games where they won't be winning.

Despite Yu Na still being pretty much the face of PC2018 (and most likely the final torchbearer), this is not enough for them. A bit silly if you ask me, considering South Korea did had winter champions long before her (see Albertville 1992)

IN KIM YUNA'S ABSENCE, KOREANS HOLD OUT FOR A PYEONGCHANG HERO

http://www.eurosport.com/figure-skating/pyeongchang/2018/in-kim-yuna-s-absence-koreans-hold-out-for-a-pyeongchang-hero_sto6416290/story.shtml

Quote

A year after her dazzling gold medal-winning performance at the Vancouver Games, figure skater Kim Yuna delivered an impassioned speech to the International Olympic Committee that helped sway the vote to bring the 2018 Winter Games to South Korea.

Dubbed the "Face of Pyeongchang" after crisscrossing the globe to garner support for the bid, Kim's charm offensive was equally effective in Korea as she helped sell the vision of a home Olympics on snow and ice despite the country having little prior interest in winter sports.

 

Even after her retirement from competition in 2014, the nation's favourite athlete has played a key role in preparations for Pyeongchang -- from carrying the Olympic flame off a flight from Greece to fronting global advertising campaigns as an honorary ambassador for the Games.

But while there is no escaping Kim's shadow ahead of the Games, she will be missing from the one place her fans long to see her most -- on the Pyeongchang ice, skating for Olympic gold and South Korean glory.

South Korea's Kim Yuna

South Korea's Kim YunaEurosport

Kim's retirement has left the host nation without a true winter sports "hero" to get behind and some see that as a major factor behind sluggish ticket sales.

"Is it any wonder Koreans have lost interest in the Games now that their star athlete is gone?" asked Lee Dae-taek, director of the Center for Sport Culture.

"Kim Yuna and the short track team were responsible for boosting interest in the Winter Olympics here," he told Reuters, adding that with so few successful local athletes competing in Pyeongchang, ticket sales were bound to lag.

Less than three months before the world's top winter sports athletes arrive in Pyeongchang, figures from organisers show that of 750,000 tickets earmarked for domestic sale, only 177,000 (23.6 percent) had been snapped up.

"Who wants to go see the Games when South Koreans are losing all the time?" Lee added.

YUNA, ONLY YUNA

Roger Park, a professor at Hanyang University's Sports Industry Department, said that without Kim Yuna, South Korea did not have a high-profile sporting "hero" to carry the Games, saying:

" The only way to spark interest is through storytelling -- the tale of an athlete going in search of further Olympic success, or the hard-luck story of another looking for redemption. But right now we just don't have any such athletes. And I don't see enough efforts from the government or Olympic committee in promoting Winter Olympians."

For many South Koreans, interest in winter sports started and finished with their figure skating queen.

"I don't really know anyone other than Kim Yuna," said 19-year-old Jung So-yeon when asked who she would be cheering for during the 2018 Games.

Lee Chae-won, 14, told Reuters she hoped the Games would make more South Korean athletes household names.

"I can't think of any (winter sports) athletes other than Kim Yuna," she said. "I hope the coming Olympics will be an opportunity for us to get to know more of them."

Former Prime Minister Han Seung-soo downplayed Kim Yuna's absence and said it was political upheaval that had served to dampen enthusiasm for sport.

"Interest in the Pyeongchang Olympics has been declining mainly due to the political chaos which prompted candlelight vigil across the country, ultimately ousting former President Park Geun-hye," Han, who led Pyeongchang's unsuccessful bid for the 2014 Games, told Reuters.

But while South Korea was indeed caught up in the maelstrom of a president's impeachment, Park was removed from office eight months ago and new President Moon Jae-in has since restored a sense of calm to domestic politics.

Some observers have also highlighted the impact of security concerns on ticket sales, though worries about North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are more likely to drag on international purchases rather than domestic sales.

With the clocking ticking down to the Games, there seems little time to craft a new narrative of Korean athletes going for gold at the 2018 Olympics.

The short track team should add to their record 21 golds while the patchwork ice hockey squad woven together by former Stanley Cup winner Jim Paek has the potential to deliver the kind of 'David v Goliath' storyline the country can respond to.

However, the stage could also be set for an 'anti-hero' to ruin the mood, with Russian short track skater Viktor Ahn ready to return to his native South Korea seeking to end is incredible career on a high.

Viktor Ahn

Viktor AhnImago

Ahn won his first three Olympic golds for Korea in Turin but after losing his place in the team due to injury and falling out with the Korea Skating Union, switched allegiance to Russia and won three more in 2014.

His Sochi success sparked an outcry in South Korea as the country demanded to know why Ahn had felt forced to defect.

While Russia's participation remains in the hands of the IOC due to continuining concerns about its anti-doping programme, Hanyang professor Park said a repeat performance by Ahn in February could spoil the Pyeongchang party.

"As host nation, South Korea wants to win as many medals as possible," added Park. "So (if Ahn wins) it would give rise to a sense of bitterness."

Additional reporting by Hyun Young Yi, Yuna Park and Choi Haejin

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Schoolkids and the elderly will be bussed in. 

A very similar issue happened in Nagano - it got to the point there that the older citizens were offered phone cards and t-shirts if they attended the victory ceremonies each night...  Thousands of school kids were given free tickets and trips to see outdoor events and some of the speed skating during the Games.

I'm not that concerned about empty arenas - they will be full of people with free tickets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nagano did had some loss of money (though far from bad as Sochi and Rio), though the citizens of the city still feel proud of the 1998 games and if you talk to any of them they will tell you it was worth it. I think it will be the same for Pyeongchang/Gangneung citizens. 

Like Puppy said, they will do what they can to fill the arenas, even if its with schoolkids/eldery people or giving tickets for free. I'm mostly worried by the economic loss these games are going to bring now because of it. 

However, i've noticed the Government and the Organizing Comittee are doing much more agressive campaigns to sell tickets. They recently opened a new website called HelloPyeongchang. I think it's part of this new campaign since it seems to be aimed at national citizens (no version on english)

https://www.hellopyeongchang.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Quote

 

Only five per cent of Winter Paralympic tickets sold but Pyeongchang 2018 claim over half purchased for Olympics

 

Pyeongchang 2018 have claimed over 50 per cent of tickets for the Winter Olympics have now been sold, but only five per cent of the sales target has been reached for the Paralympic Games.

Low ticket sales for the Paralympic Games were revealed last month, when politician Jo Seoung-lae claimed Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism figures showed just 0.2 per cent had been sold.

The figure, revealed by the Democratic Party official, revealed just 457 of the 223,353 tickets had been purchased as of October 20.

Pyeongchang 2018 claim the sales figure has risen to 11,274 as of yesterday, although this remains just five per cent of the total available.

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons claimed earlier this month that Pyeongchang 2018 had responded positively to criticism over the poor sales figures.

Parsons raised the issue with the President of Pyeongchang 2018, Lee Hee-beom, and the South Korean President Moon Jae-in while visiting the country, with the official remaining optimistic full venues could still be achieved.

There are more promising figures for the Olympic Games, with 52 per cent having been claimed to have been sold.

A total of 555,000 of the 1.07 million tickets available had been sold by November 24, rising from 275,964 the previous month.

The latest total includes local and international sales.

International ticket sales, however, are the number distributed to the authorised ticket resellers around the world and have not necessarily been sold to the public yet. 

Over half of Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic tickets have now been sold ©Getty Images Over half of Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic tickets have now been sold ©Getty Images

Pyeongchang 2018 have stated that 54 per cent of tickets have been sold for both snow and ice sport events at the Games.

A total of 52 per cent have been sold for the Opening Ceremony, due to take place on February 9.

Organisers add that 37 per cent of the tickets for sliding sports have also been sold.

Figures may have been boosted by tickets available offline for the first time from November 1, with sales having been done solely online beforehand.

Three main ticket centres have opened across the host nation: in Seoul City Hall, Gangwon Provincial Government in Chuncheon and Gangneung City Hall.

Organisers also revealed the design of the tickets - which feature pictograms for each sport as well as images of snowflakes in the shape of the Korean alphabet.

The Olympic Torch also touched down in South Korea on November 1, with Pyeongchang 2018 and International Olympic Committee officials having claimed it would heighten media and public attention for the Games.

Promotions by rights-holders' and partners' in the build-up to the Games are also hoped to boost sales in the coming months.

The Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics are scheduled to take place from February 9 to 25.

They will be followed by the Paralympics, due to be held from March 8 to 18.

 

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1058419/only-five-per-cent-of-winter-paralympic-tickets-sold-but-pyeongchang-2018-claim-over-half-purchased-for-olympics

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad the issues with the ticket sells for the Olympics has been alleviating slowly but steady. Seems like raising the aggressiveness of the sell campaign this November really helped. This article claims over 10.000 tickets have been sold on a daily basis. 

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/11/27/2017112701189.html

It's still a big shame about the Paralympics, though....they will have to do something in order to avoid the emptiness of the venues be too noticeable. 

Quote

Ticket Sales for Pyeongchang Olympics Soar as Opening Nears
 

2017112701113_0.jpg

Ticket sales for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang have accelerated as the opening approaches, with more than half of the tickets now sold. The Olympics begin on Feb. 9 and run until Feb. 25.

The organizing committee for the Olympics said Sunday that about 555,000 tickets, or 51.9 percent, including for the opening and closing ceremonies, have been sold as of Friday.

"Sales have increased since the torch relay kicked off and offline sales became available in early November," the committee said. "Sales remained at around 30 percent by October, but jumped in November, with almost 10,000 tickets sold a day."

The committee attributed the increase to the opening of the new route of the KTX high-speed train between Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province and Gangneung, which is close to the Olympic venue.

Tickets for popular disciplines such as figure skating and short-track skating events have already sold out, while those for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton have been slower, with combined sales reaching just 37 percent so far. The committee hopes tickets will be sold out by the opening ceremony on Feb. 9.

Tickets are available both online and offline through the committee's website or the municipal offices of Seoul and Gangneung, and major KTX stations.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It wasn't talked too much here, but ever since the THAAD defense system was installed in SK to protect the country from their psycho neighbours, the relationship with China got very bad, and chinese travelers were even banned from visiting SK earlier this year, a popular tourist destination for them, causing a drop of almost 25% in tourist income (they're literally the cause why NK is doing what they do and on top of that they punish SK... <_<)

Anyway, I think this was also something which hurt the ticket sales, though it seems the relationship with China might start to calm down at least for a moment.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...