A Sino-U.S. consortium of ticketing agencies, the Beijing Gehua Ticketmaker Ticketing Co. Ltd., was selected Friday as the Ticketing Service Exclusive Supplier of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
The consortium will provide ticketing services to Beijing 2008, including the technology platform order form management sales and distribution channel functions, customer services, and local box office outlet staffing.
Rong Jun, a BOCOG ticketing officials said, “people shall be able to buy tickets via the Internet, telephone or at the booths set up outside the Olympic venues after tickets go on sale next year”.
He said that more than seven million tickets will be available to the general public, with about 30 per cent going overseas.
BOCOG is considering limiting the number of tickets each individual is allowed to purchase to prevent the sale of black market tickets, said Rong. “We have yet to decide on how many tickets each individual is allowed to buy”.
BOCOG has promised that the majority of the tickets will be low priced, considering the purchase power of local residents.
Meanwhile specialized volunteers for the Olympic and Paralympic Games are to be recruited. The recruitment will focus on eight service areas including VIP escort and translation, vehicle driving, media operations, sport organization, medical services awarding ceremony, reception and accommodation, and security.
An official with the Volunteers Department of Beijing 2008 said those people who meet the requirements for specialized volunteers and have already applied on line or registered in Beijing’s district or counties, or higher education institutions, will also be included for selection.
Although there was no launch time there are indications that the first batch of specialized volunteers will be decided upon in August 2007.
Since it was launched August 28, the Beijing 2008 volunteer program has received more than 220,000 applicants with 600,000 people asking for information.
