OLYMPIC TICKETS PROVE HOT PROPERTY TO CHINESE 
 
China has hailed the “hottest” ticket sales in Olympic history, with all seats offered in advance to the local public for events in Beijing booked out three months ahead of the games August 8 opening.

The strength of local demand for even little- followed disciplines such as canoeing highlights Chinese popular enthusiasm for the games, which is undimmed by the controversy that has followed the Olympic flames progress across western nations in recent weeks.

Beijing now appears on course to beat the record for Olympic sales established by Sydney in 2000, where 92 per cent of the tickets for main events that were offered to the public were sold.

Beijings official ticketing website attracted 27m hits within the first hour of the launch of a third round of domestic sales on Monday, and by yesterday afternoon all tickets for events in the Chinese capital had been booked or sold, organisers said.

“It can be said that this Olympics has had the hottest ticket sales in Olympic history,” said Wang Hui, of the Beijing Organising Committee (Bocog).

Ms Wang said all tickets offered for stadiums in Beijing as well as equestrian events to be held in Hong Kong had been booked.

Officials said the only tickets still available were for soccer qualification games to be held in other Chinese cities.

Demand for tickets for such football games was also relatively subdued during the Sydney games, with total sales in 2000 falling to 88 per cent if such matches were included.

About 25 per cent of tickets are being made available to foreign visitors, with many others being distributed directly to domestic young people and VIPs.

Tickets that are booked but not paid for will be offered again at venues during the games, while a small number are also being kept back for “contingencies”.

Demand for those offered to the public has been helped by prices set well below those of previous games in developed countries.

“Most Chinese will only have the chance to see an Olympics once in their life and they all hope to make it to a venue,” said Huang Jianbing of the Fuon Sports Marketing Centre in Shanghai. “Its also the case that Chinas population is very large.”

The prospect of packed stadiums for early-round competition in little-known Olympic sports is likely to thrill those athletes who generally perform in relative obscurity.

However, it could also bring challenges, with many spectators likely to be unfamiliar with the norms of audience etiquette expected at sports such as archery or shooting.

An international snooker competition in Beijing in 2005 caused official embarrassment after fans talked loudly on mobile phones during games and took flash photographs.

The city has sought to counter such problems with a three-year spectator education programme, including TV and stage dramas and the printing of more than 200,000 pamphlets. 

北京奥运门票热销 
 
中国出现了奥运史上“最热”的门票销售居民——距离8月8日北京奥运会开幕还有3个月，向境内公众提供的北京地区赛事门票已预订一空。

即使是划艇这类冷门项目在当地也获得强力追捧，突显出中国民众对奥运赛事的热情。最近几周奥运火炬在西方国家传递引发的争议，并未冲淡这种热情。

现在看来，北京有望打破2000年悉尼奥运会创下的门票销售纪录，当时有92%向公众发售的主要赛事门票成功售出。

北京奥组委(Bocog)宣布，在第三阶段境内奥运门票周一开始销售后的一个小时，北京官方票务网站的点击量就达到2700万人次。截至周三下午，北京赛事的门票都已全部预订或售出。

北京奥组委的王慧表示：“这可以说是奥林匹克历史上票务销售最火爆的一次奥运会。”

王慧称，北京赛场及香港马术比赛的所有门票都已预定一空。

政府官员们还表示，目前只有在中国其他城市举行的足球预赛的门票还有剩余。

在悉尼奥运会期间，对此类足球赛事门票的需求也相对低迷。如果把这些赛事计入其中，2000年奥运会门票的发售率就会降至88%。

约有25%的门票向国外游客发售，另外还有许多门票直接给了国内的年轻人和贵宾。

已经预定但没有付款的门票将于比赛期间在现场重新销售，同时还有少量门票留下来“应急”。

此次奥运门票定价远低于以前在发达国家举办的奥运会，促进了面向公众发售的门票的需求。

上海复奥体育产业中心(Fuon Sports Marketing Centre)的黄建兵表示：“多数中国人一辈子只有一次机会看奥运会，他们都希望亲临赛场。中国的人口非常庞大也是原因之一。”

知名度不高的奥运项目的初赛都有可能坐满观众。这可能会令那些通常少有人关注的运动员感到振奋。

不过，这可能也会带来挑战。许多观众可能并不熟悉射箭或射击等比赛的观众礼仪准则。

在2005年北京举办的一项国际斯诺克比赛中，观众在比赛期间大声打手机，用闪光灯拍照，令举办方尴尬。

为解决这些问题，北京展开了为期3年的观众教育计划，包括电视和舞台剧，并印制了20多万本宣传册。（编辑：肖笑）