Here are the highlights on the Road to PyeongChang from the past week:
PyeongChang 2018 Ticketing website now open to EVERYONE…
October 17th . This is major news for everyone buying tickets for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Why? Because now instead of going with Authorized Ticket Resellers (ATRs) you can go directly to the PyeongChang 2018 website and purchase tickets. There are two reasons this is meaningful — 1) By going direct you can avoid expensive exchange rates and handling fees (this can save as much as 40% on a single ticket price); and 2) Seats are assigned immediately and mobile ticketing is available. This story was broken by me earlier this week on Twitter as this development was unscheduled and unannounced. Here is the link to buy tickets direct.
Olympic torch to be lit, signaling the countdown to the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games…
PyeongChang 2018 torch to be lit in Greece Tuesday. October 20th. On Tuesday, October 24th the Olympic torch will be lit in Greece starting the journey to South Korea. After first taking a trip around Greece, the torch will reach South Korea on November 1st, which marks 100 days before the start of the games. The relay will feature over 7500 runners and cover 2018 kilometers, in celebration of the year of the Winter Games. Read more here.
Canadian Authorised Ticket Reseller gears up for PyeongChang 2018…
ATPI Sports Events expands Canadian team. October 20th. ATPI Sport Events, which replaced Cosport as Canada’s Authorized Ticket Reseller (ATR) for PyeongChang 2018 through the Olympics in 2024, has announced the expansion of their senior management team with four additions. They will help preparations for Canada with PyeongChang 2018 attendance still firming up for National Organizing Committees (NOCs) and ATRs, Tokyo 2020 is expected to be a huge success given they have already exceeded their sponsorship commitment goals. Read more here.
And in sponsorship news, PyeongChang 2018 announces a sponsor in the car wash machines category…
October 20th. PyeongChang 2018 announced a new sponsorship from DY Corporation for the newly created “car washing machine” category, to keep cars clean during the Olympics. In other sponsorship news…Snapchat and Discovery Eurosport reached an agreement on Snapchat content for European Olympic viewers. Snapchat is looking to build on their 2.2B impressions with NBC from Rio 2018…Toyota kicked off their global mobility campaign, focusing on the freedom of mobility for all in partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic games.
Latest Road to PyeongChang bits and bytes for fans who are planning or hoping to attend:
- I’ll get to the bottom of it! No changes in inventory this week on the major website, with still some limited hotel rooms available for those traveling to the games. Many are wondering where all these hotels and hotel rooms are given last week’s revelation that 90% of hotels in the Olympic cities do not have a single room booked. More on this in a couple of weeks when I am there on the ground.
- Flight prices remain flat and relatively cheap to get you to South Korea: Flights remain surprisingly inexpensive. Round-trip increased to $669 from Los Angeles to Seoul, South Korea on Hong Kong Airlines departing February 6th and returning February 16th, enough time to see the Opening Ceremonies and several marquee events. NOTE: Last week, prices were $615.
- New Olympic Hiking Trail opens. Looking to get outdoors near the 3 Olympic host cities? Now you can with the opening of the Olympic Aribaugil Hiking Trail, an 80 mile trail that connects the 3 main host cities. A great opportunity to get out and experience the beauty of the region.
- PyeongChang 2018 Ticket Site Watch: As mentioned above, a major change this week with PyeongChang 2018’s ticketing website opening up world-wide. 90% of events are available for immediate purchase and you have your choice of pick-up, print-at-home, and mobile ticketing. The remaining 10% still have tickets available, but are in a “preparing for sale” state and will likely be available in the near future.
- Authorized Ticket Resellers Watch: With the news this week on the PyeongChang 2018 ticketing site, the focus for Authorized Resellers will likely shift to focus only on packages inclusive of hotel rooms, hospitality, and tickets. The reason? The PyeongChang 2018 offers lower prices and more options for delivery of tickets. I will continue to track ticket availability thorugh ATRSs which remains largely unchanged with most events having available inventory from both Cosport (USA) and Dertour (Germany/EU).
Ken is the Chief Operating Officer at InviteManager. He has been featured in the International Business Times, MSN, Yahoo Sports, ThePostGame, USA Today and ESPN. For more information, you can follow Ken’s blog, connect via Twitter or email him at kenh@invitemanager.com.