Those who tried for hours on Tuesday to get Olympic Games
tickets only to see selling suspended will be served first when the
booking service resumes.
The director of the Games' ticketing center, Rong Jun, said at a
press conference Wednesday that the organizers will give priority
to those who left their contact information after waiting outside
Bank of China outlets or on the phone.
More details will be announced next Monday together with new
ticketing information.
Sales of the second portion of Games tickets reserved for
Chinese citizens were halted on Tuesday after the booking system
crashed from the overwhelming demand.
The first-come-first-serve scheme saw 1.85 million tickets on
sale through websites, a hotline and designated Bank of China
branches. In one hour, 8 million people visited the website. And in
the first three hours, 20 million people visited, when there were
just 1.85 million tickets available.
Only 43,000 tickets were sold when the service was suspended at
6 pm.
Rong said organizers "underestimated the situation and
enthusiasm of people, and did not prepare fully and have a good
contingency plan".
Rong said ticket orders remain valid and those who got the
tickets offline will have more time to pay.
Rong said organizers are working with the ticket service
providers, a joint venture between the United States firm
TicketMaster and two Chinese firms, to upgrade the system.
The Beijing Olympic Games, which will open next August, has 7
million tickets available, with about 75 percent reserved for
domestic sale.
(China Daily November 1, 2007)