People who don't want to miss the opening or closing ceremonies
of the Beijing Olympic Games should place their ticket orders by
June 30, a ticketing official said yesterday.
The sales period for the first batch of tickets to be made
available - about two million tickets for the domestic market -
will close next Saturday. As of Wednesday, some 360,000 bookings
had been made and 2.2 million tickets ordered through the official
ticketing website, Bank of China branches and post offices.
"The tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies will only be
available during this first phase," said Rong Jun, director of the
ticketing department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the
Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).
"The two events have already been overbooked, but every booking
made by next Saturday will have an equal opportunity to get a
ticket through a lottery."
Rong said officials from BOCOG, the government and the public
will witness the lottery to make sure it is fair.
"We will make sure it is fair and transparent, and media
professionals are also welcome," he said.
As expected, most of the bookings were for sports that are
popular in China, such as soccer, basketball, volleyball, table
tennis, badminton, swimming, diving and gymnastics.
"But we were a little surprised to see that some comparatively
unpopular sports, like the triathlon, mountain biking and sailing,
have attracted many people," the director said.
Rong said the coming days would see a flood of bookings, as some
640,000 who have registered on the website are still waiting to
apply for tickets.
"Generally speaking, we are satisfied with the sales figures
from this first period. After all, Chinese people are not very used
to purchasing tickets so far in advance of an event," he said.
Ticketing officials also hope the trial events to be held this
year will help boost the local interest.
Starting on July 1, 26 trial events, including equestrian,
canoeing, BMX, baseball, archery and sailing, will be held in
Beijing and other co-host cities.
Meanwhile, the director also said overseas sales were proceeding
smoothly.
BOCOG has signed contracts with some 130 National Olympic
Committees (NOCs) to promote worldwide ticket sales.
"The number of tickets for overseas sports fans will surpass
that sold for the Athens Games because our venues have larger
capacities," Rong said.
"The tickets will be allocated to the NOCs according to their
bookings."
(China Daily June 21, 2007)