Although the 2008 Summer Olympics, being held Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, are still a full year away, making plans to attend the games has already come down to a roulette-like gamble of hurry-up-and-wait, with choices narrowing as time goes by.
The most important task is securing tickets, which can be difficult. Only a certain number of tickets are allocated to each country, and direct ticket-buying in each is only available to local residents. Unfortunately, June 30 was the cutoff date for entering the lottery to reserve the exact tickets you want. But there are other options if you're willing to compromise on price or on which events you attend.
For starters, keep tabs on a tour operator and the sole official 2008 ticket agent in the United States. Early reservations are being confirmed and tickets allocated now through September; whatever is left will be sold live, first come first served, starting this October. Exact sale dates are unconfirmed, so keep checking for updates. Tickets range from $5 for events such as baseball to $773 for the opening ceremonies, said Adam Wixted, a CoSport spokesman.
If you would rather pay a bit extra to get tickets now, the resale market is already an option. Don't expect to find many sales by individuals on sites like eBay until next July, when tickets are distributed. However, professional resale brokers, who often buy their own tickets or have prearranged deals for the unused tickets of wholesale buyers (like corporate sponsors), already are selling tickets by the thousands at Web sites like , an aggregator for resale brokers, often with buyer guarantees.
One reason for the exceptionally high demand already seen for Beijing's Olympics is the comparative affordability of tickets, said Don Vaccaro, chief executive of TicketLiquidator.
"Beijing is tougher because they took special care and effort to make the pricing low enough to make sure that most of the events - if not all of the events - would sell out," he said. "They didn't want what happened in Torino - where Olympians were playing to far less than packed houses - to happen in Beijing."
The bigger problem, he said, would be finding affordable air fare and a place to stay. As with ticket sales, it's a question of timing, availability and luck. With Olympic Committee members, journalists and corporate sponsors from around the world planning to flood Beijing, availability is tight.
This is particularly true at the luxury end. "Almost all the five-star or luxury hotels in Beijing during the Olympic Games time frame will be blocked," said Dawei Wu, communications director for the China National Tourist Office. Tour operators may be your best option: Major hotel booking sites such as Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity won't accept reservations until roughly 330 days before arrival, which means individuals booking a hotel online have to wait until early September. Ditto for plane tickets.
A second issue arises from a combination of lengthy minimum-stay requirements and inflated room rates, with the inability of tour operators other than CoSport to secure tickets.
"We're working with the Peninsula and you have to spend a week there," said Donna Foersom, marketing manager for Abercrombie & Kent, a luxury tour operator that will not be offering Olympic-themed packages, but which can arrange custom itineraries. "Without a guarantee of tickets, it's a difficult thing for people to take up."
Some tour operators have prearranged deals with local hotels. One example is Let's Travel China which has secured the entire 218-room Plaza Hotel for its clients as part of their Olympic tour packages, with minimum-stay requirements of only four nights.
The most important task is securing tickets, which can be difficult. Only a certain number of tickets are allocated to each country, and direct ticket-buying in each is only available to local residents. Unfortunately, June 30 was the cutoff date for entering the lottery to reserve the exact tickets you want. But there are other options if you're willing to compromise on price or on which events you attend.
For starters, keep tabs on a tour operator and the sole official 2008 ticket agent in the United States. Early reservations are being confirmed and tickets allocated now through September; whatever is left will be sold live, first come first served, starting this October. Exact sale dates are unconfirmed, so keep checking for updates. Tickets range from $5 for events such as baseball to $773 for the opening ceremonies, said Adam Wixted, a CoSport spokesman.
If you would rather pay a bit extra to get tickets now, the resale market is already an option. Don't expect to find many sales by individuals on sites like eBay until next July, when tickets are distributed. However, professional resale brokers, who often buy their own tickets or have prearranged deals for the unused tickets of wholesale buyers (like corporate sponsors), already are selling tickets by the thousands at Web sites like , an aggregator for resale brokers, often with buyer guarantees.
One reason for the exceptionally high demand already seen for Beijing's Olympics is the comparative affordability of tickets, said Don Vaccaro, chief executive of TicketLiquidator.
"Beijing is tougher because they took special care and effort to make the pricing low enough to make sure that most of the events - if not all of the events - would sell out," he said. "They didn't want what happened in Torino - where Olympians were playing to far less than packed houses - to happen in Beijing."
The bigger problem, he said, would be finding affordable air fare and a place to stay. As with ticket sales, it's a question of timing, availability and luck. With Olympic Committee members, journalists and corporate sponsors from around the world planning to flood Beijing, availability is tight.
This is particularly true at the luxury end. "Almost all the five-star or luxury hotels in Beijing during the Olympic Games time frame will be blocked," said Dawei Wu, communications director for the China National Tourist Office. Tour operators may be your best option: Major hotel booking sites such as Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity won't accept reservations until roughly 330 days before arrival, which means individuals booking a hotel online have to wait until early September. Ditto for plane tickets.
A second issue arises from a combination of lengthy minimum-stay requirements and inflated room rates, with the inability of tour operators other than CoSport to secure tickets.
"We're working with the Peninsula and you have to spend a week there," said Donna Foersom, marketing manager for Abercrombie & Kent, a luxury tour operator that will not be offering Olympic-themed packages, but which can arrange custom itineraries. "Without a guarantee of tickets, it's a difficult thing for people to take up."
Some tour operators have prearranged deals with local hotels. One example is Let's Travel China which has secured the entire 218-room Plaza Hotel for its clients as part of their Olympic tour packages, with minimum-stay requirements of only four nights.
No comments:
Post a Comment