Olympia 2018: Pyeongchang: Slow ticket sales in South Korea

Olympia-muffle or fear of the threat from North Korea: Five months before the start, the enthusiasm for the Olympic Winter Games (9th Olympic Games) is still very much in evidence.till 25.February) in South Korea is surprisingly low.Only 4.8 percent of the tickets have been sold in the host country so far, with 70 percent of the tickets to be sold there.

“Koreans are known as last-minute buyers.We expect a significant increase in the second sales phase,”said a spokesperson for the games department to insidethegames in Pyeongchang and tried to play down the previous disillusionment.

A total of 1.18 million tickets are available for the games. 90 percent of these, i. e. 1.07 million, are to be sold in advance of the competitions.In South Korea, however, only 52,000 cards have been sold so far, 62 percent of them in the Seoul metropolitan region.

In the newly developed winter sports region, the IOC, as the host of the games, is also relying on the second sales phase from the 5th season onwards.It is expected that these two major programmes will increase interest in the games in the media and among the general public,”said a communication.

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in is said to have already called on individual provinces in the country to step up efforts to sell tickets.The South Korean organisers apparently did not use the right marketing strategies and did not improve advertising despite repeated promises.

Sluggish sales are the lowest in the history of the Winter Games so far.The remaining 22.7 percent of the tickets sold to date have been sold by the authorised ticket distributor ATRs for international distribution and have not yet been sold to viewers.

Lee Hee Beom, President of the Organizing Committee in Pyeongchang, has already criticized foreign marketing.Especially the important markets in Japan and China, which were supposed to lose 63 percent of their foreign tickets, had failed to gain momentum.

However, it is also possible that the political tensions emanating from North Korea, caused by repeated missile launches, may limit the enthusiasm for the games.The unpredictability of the North Korean head of state Kim Jong-un is unsettling potential buyers.That is why tensions should also arise between Seoul and Beijing.President Moon has already had talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on this point.

Nevertheless, the IOC concluded its ninth and final inspection visit to Pyeongchang on Thursday with a positive conclusion:”We have seen great progress in the venues and infrastructure,”said Gunilla Lundberg, Head of the Coordination Commission.But the Swede also admitted:”We have heard about new plans to inspire sports fans for the Olympics.”