BOCOG Ticketing Center halts domestic ticket sales as demand surges

The head of the BOCOG Ticketing Center said Tuesday that after careful consideration and discussions with the relevant technical partners, and to ensure the interests of the public, BOCOG has decided to temporarily halt the domestic ticket sales in the second phase to improve the technical plan and will announce new ticketing information on November 5.

The second phase of domestic ticket sales for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, launched Tuesday morning, was met with an unprecedented rise in ticket demand from the general public. Within the first hour, from 9:00am to 10:00am, the page view (PV) volume of the official ticketing website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (http://tickets.beijing2008.com) soared to eight million, while the number of calls to the ticketing hotline (+8610 952008) exceeded 3.8 million.

Because of the overwhelming volume of page visits, the technical system was unable to perform the tasks well enough, and many applicants were unable to successfully submit their applications. The BOCOG Ticketing Center expressed regret for any inconvenience experienced by the applicants in the process of purchasing tickets.

Tuesday morning's turnout for the ticket sale fully reflected the Chinese people's longing and support for the Olympic Games. There were long queues at BOCOG-designated Bank of China (BOC) branches; some applicants had waited in line since Monday. Many others had sat in front of the computer for a long time, waiting to access the ticketing website and to submit their orders. Meanwhile those who chose to purchase their tickets by phone had been constantly calling the hotline since early morning.

In regard to the communications jam caused by the excessive page visits, the official explained that the ticketing center had underestimated the demand from the public, resulting in shortcomings in the preparations and causing inconvenience to ticket buyers.

"We sincerely apologize to the general public," the official said.

The official confirmed that the successful orders of the Olympic tickets on Tuesday through the three channels -- via the Internet, telephone, or at the Bank of China branches -- will remain valid. The applications of those who registered their ID information at BOC branches and call centers on Tuesday will be processed immediately once the ticket sales begin again.