Turin 2006 has sold 690,000 out of one million tickets for the upcoming Games and the organizing committee wants to sell between 800,000-850,000 tickets to meet its budget for the Games. The 690,000 tickets that were sold were worth $71 million and amounted to 91 per cent of the committee’s target sales.
Although ticket sales, particularly in Italy, were slow at first, they reportedly gathered steam in January due to Giorgio Rocca’s winning streak in slalom races.
Of the more than 300,000 tickets still on sale Tuesday only higher priced spots remain for events including figure skating, men’s Alpine skiing and men’s hockey.
In a statement Tuesday TOROC said Italians had now bought about 300,000 tickets compared to 200,000 in early January, which means they will make up the largest group of visitors to the Games, followed by the United States and Germany.
As the Games approach new ticket booths have opened across the city. The main ticketing centre in Piazza d’Armi has opened to the public as well as box offices in the Turin, Bardonecchia and Sestriere Olympic Villages.
The Piazza d’Armi centre will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. until February 9, and starting February 10 it will be open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets can only be purchased by cash or Visa credit card.
Day passes can also be purchased at the centre between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the figure skating and short track training sessions at the Palavela February 11-24.
Meanwhile railway services are to be updated during the Games with 105 special trains travelling across the Olympic valleys daily every half hour starting February 7, with the exclusion of February 11.
