BEIJING, April. 30 -- One World, One Dream is the theme of the
Beijing Games - and if overseas ticket demand is any indicator, the whole world wants to be in
Beijing for the Games to live their dream.
Beijing Games organizers have said that they are "still trying to dig out resources for tickets so as to satisfy demand worldwide".
"Olympic tickets are 'hot' and the enthusiasm is very high," said Zhu Yan, director of
Beijing Olympic Ticketing Center.
"Overseas demand was taken fully into consideration in ticket sales, and we are still trying to provide more," he added.
About 6.8 million tickets are available for sale for the
Beijing Games and it is estimated that 75 percent of those will be for the domestic market.
Overseas tickets are handed over to the national or regional Olympic committees (NOCs) and most of them appoint ticket agents to deal with sales.
In Finland, for example, all the 10,000 tickets allocated have been sold out. Officials there are asking for more.
"The number of tickets we allocated for the NOCs is much more than that in previous Games," said Zhu. "The allocation strictly followed the rules of the International Olympic Committee and we have tried our best to meet the needs of all the NOCs.
"But since their demand is still on the rise, we will continue to discuss with them and balance the requirements of all sides."
Zhu said it is hard to put a figure on the exact number of tickets sold outside the Chinese mainland because sales are still under way.
On the Chinese mainland, the third and the final round of ticket sales start next month. About 1.38 million tickets will be on offer from May 5 to June 9.
Tickets for 244 events in 16 disciplines are available at Bank of China outlets or on the official ticketing website on a "first come, first served" basis.
People are allowed to buy a maximum of six tickets at one time, three each for two sessions.
Overwhelming demand caused the computer system to crash just a few hours after the second sales phase started six months ago, forcing organizers to revert to a lottery system.
But Zhu reassured people that thousands of tickets are available for most of the events, and urged them not to rush. The system has been fixed and there will be no repeat of the chaos in the previous round, he said.
"The system has been optimized and updated and it is being tested right now," Zhu said last week. "I am confident that the system will meet the requirements of customers."
People who paid for the tickets through the website can get their tickets printed anytime during the third phase and those who paid at Bank of China outlets can get tickets on site.
The first stage of the domestic sales was conducted from April to June last year, with some 1.6 million tickets, including all the tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies, allocated by lottery.
The second stage was launched last October but was suspended until December. About 1.8 million tickets were sold.
Ticket delivery for the buyers in the first two stages is planned to start in June.
(Source: China Daily)
