Home>News Center>Sports
         
 

Majority of Olympics tickets still unsold
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-21 08:51

The Athens Games were supposed to make this ancient land a top tourist destination. But with just three weeks left before the opening ceremonies, the figures are hardly encouraging.


A military officer guards an area at the Hellenikon Olympic complex, near Athens on Monday, July 19, 2004. The Athens Olympics, the first summer games since Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, have a projected cost of more than $1.2 billion. [AP]
More than half the tickets for the games remain unsold, tour operators are reporting sluggish bookings and up to 6,000 of Athens' 62,000 hotel rooms are still up for grabs despite earlier fears of a serious accommodation shortage.

In fact, fewer tourists are expected in Greece this summer compared to last year.

"Generally, it looks like this year we will have less people," George Drakopoulos, head of the Association of Greek Tourist Enterprises, told The Associated Press. He said some parts of Greece have seen a 10 to 15 percent drop in bookings.

Tourism is a vital industry in Greece, where island vacations at beach resorts and visits to archaeological monuments bring in 18 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Last year, Greece attracted about 12 million visitors, 85 percent of them from Britain and Germany.

Olympic construction delays and the threat of terrorism have hurt bookings. Evidently, many tourists are not comforted by the record $1.2 billion being spent on protecting the Aug. 13-29 games.

"Athens is as safe a place as it can be," said Harry Coccossis, head of Greece's National Tourism Organization.

A weak international economy and a strong euro - the currency Greece shares with 11 other European Union countries - have also lowered travel interest.

Aliki Hamosfakidou, who works for Athens-based Dolphin Travel, said the response from potential tourists has been lukewarm.

Don Williams, vice president of sales and marketing for Cartan Tours in Manhattan Beach, Calif., said his company decided to allocate fewer tickets for Athens than it did four years ago for the Sydney games.

"We anticipated Athens would be lighter," Williams said. "The venues are smaller, the dollar's weaker and some people have security concerns.

"The ticket prices are 30 percent lower than at Sydney," he added. "But the accommodations are more expensive in Greece, and they haven't really backed down."

Many tour operators feel the Olympics were not publicized enough and that Greece as a whole should have been promoted as part of the package.

The new conservative government blames the former socialist administration for delays and lack of international enthusiasm.

"The bad thing is that campaign for the Olympic Games was not connected with the campaign for tourism," Coccossis said.

Optimists insist a turn around is still possible, noting that Sydney was well below its ticket targets a month before the 2000 Olympics and that Athens, at last, is an attractive capital.

Improvements include a spruced-up city center, hundreds of volunteers to help tourists get around, multilingual information centers, and extended hours for archaeological sites and stores. Even Athens' notoriously surly taxi drivers have received etiquette lessons.

Greeks' spirits have soared since the country pulled off a major surprise to win the European soccer championship this month.

A weekend opinion poll found 60.2 percent of all Greeks were "interested" in attending an Olympic event, with 21.3 percent saying they will buy a ticket before the start of the games, compared to 15.9 percent in a May survey. No margin or error was provided.

Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni sees the Olympic glass as half full.

"The construction projects that tired everybody so much are finishing," she said Tuesday.

"There is a great feeling of satisfaction when all the dust lifts, and you can see all the new sidewalks, roads and the colors of the building facades ... At last, we're done."



 
  Today's Top News     Top Sports News
 

Taiwan: Don't test Beijing's resolve

 

   
 

US police brutality victim seeks justice

 

   
 

Iraq suicide car bomb kills 68, wounds 56

 

   
 

Credit under better control

 

   
 

China opens first research station in Arctic

 

   
 

3 diplomats killed Costa Rica hostage drama

 

   
  Zhang leads China over Italy at World GP Finals
   
  Iran coin a quarter
   
  Yao's homecoming NBA tickets hits market
   
  China's Olympic athletes will be stylish
   
  Tyson gunning for an early knockout
   
  Chelsea lure Carvalho from Portuguese champs
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产xxxx视频在线观看| 好男人在线社区www| 亚洲欧美电影在线一区二区| 里番全彩本子库acg污妖王| 在线看欧美三级中文经典| 久久久久亚洲精品无码网址| 欧美成人精品第一区| 免费无码不卡视频在线观看| 被cao的合不拢腿的皇后| 国产精品久久久久免费a∨| jizz日本黄色| 拧花蒂尿用力按凸起喷水尿| 亚洲AV无码精品蜜桃| 波多野结衣一区二区免费视频| 啊灬啊灬啊快日出水了| 麻豆国产在线不卡一区二区| 国产精品老女人精品视| xxxx日本免费| 新婚之夜女警迎合粗大| 亚洲av日韩综合一区久热| 波多野结衣之双调教hd| 午夜三级黄色片| 视频一区二区中文字幕| 国产激情一区二区三区| 97人人模人人爽人人少妇| 妖精的尾巴ova| 久久99精品久久久久久久久久| 欧美a级片在线观看| 亚洲热妇无码av在线播放| 精品乱子伦一区二区三区| 国产又污又爽又色的网站| 亚洲欧美日韩丝袜另类| 国产香蕉一区二区在线网站| ririai66在线观看视频| 我两腿被同学摸的直流水| 久久国产成人精品国产成人亚洲| 校花哭着扒开屁股浣肠于柔| 亚洲欧美一区二区三区在线 | 亚洲伊人久久大香线蕉结合| 男人女人做a视频| 午夜男女爽爽影院网站|