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: 日本特黄特色aa大片免费| 精品一区二区三区波多野结衣| 国产网址在线观看| 中文字幕一区二区三| 日韩午夜小视频| 亚洲一区二区三区偷拍女厕| 热RE99久久6国产精品免费| 午夜视频在线观看区二区| 进击的巨人第五季樱花免费版| 国产特级毛片aaaaaa| 3d无尽3d无尽动漫同人| 夜夜夜精品视频免费| 一级毛片成人免费看a| 无码国产伦一区二区三区视频| 久久精品无码专区免费东京热| 欧美人妻精品一区二区三区| 亚洲毛片无码专区亚洲乱| 男人桶女人视频30分钟看看吧| 午夜福利AV无码一区二区| 色综合久久88色综合天天| 国产在线a免费观看| 久久国产精品99精品国产987| 国产精品嫩草影院永久一| 99久久久精品免费观看国产| 奇米影视888欧美在线观看| 一级片免费网址| 成人男女网18免费视频| 久久99久久99精品免观看| 日本精品少妇一区二区三区| 久久综合色婷婷| 最近最新中文字幕完整版免费高清| 亚洲天堂2016| 欧美精品videosex极品| 亚洲精品无码人妻无码| 狼友av永久网站免费观看| 免费大黄网站在线看| 精品深夜av无码一区二区 | 国产成人免费在线观看| 抽搐一进一出gif日本| 国产精品欧美在线不卡| 7777奇米影视|