Ticket Row Hits Home Numbers
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday November 23, 1999
The home-stay accommodation market for the Olympic Games has been hit hard by the ticketing problems, with a fall in orders of about 66per cent.
The trouble for the industry started after the first round of tickets were released when up to 400 people, mainly from interstate destinations, cancelled home-stay orders.
The reduction in the number of people intending to stay in Sydney for the Games has caused many homeowners to withdraw their properties from the program.
The official home-stay accommodation is being run by real estate group Ray White.
On October 22 the firm stopped taking any new orders because of the uncertainty which has surrounded ticketing for the Games.
The firm said any applications which it had received since then had been placed in a holding file and the $175 paid by the homeowners had been returned.
Deposits have been forfeited by some intending visitors, who have since cancelled properties which they had reserved.
Ray White is also handling the ``home host" accommodation program, under which homes are being offered on a bed-and-breakfast basis, but the firm says this area has not been affected by the ticketing problems.
Sam White, a director at the firm, said it had more than 2,600 applications from homeowners when the program started but 500 had now withdrawn due to dissatisfaction over pricing and the success of the marketing of the properties.
He said a similar program had been run for all Olympic Games since Barcelona in 1992.
During the Atlanta Games there were about five companies running similar programs which had varying degrees of success.
White was reluctant to predict the likely future of the program should there be further hiccups in the ticketing.
But he said the firm was ``eagerly awaiting" the outcome of the next round of ticket allocations.
``Of the remaining 2,100 properties we have 300 that are awaiting inspection," he said. ``We have received an excecuted Management Agency Agreement for about 1,200 properties and we have matched and booked 500 homes, which is equal to about 1,700 visitors from Australia and overseas.
``The release of the ticketing was alway anticipated to be a defining moment for our program.
``Until visitors had obtained tickets they would not be sure if they would be coming to Sydney and, therefore, would not be sure if they would be requiring accommodation.
``The early results from this first round have been disappointing."
White said his company was currently in discussions with SOCOG in an attempt to salvage the situation.
As part of the push to turn the crisis around, Ray White Real Estate has now sought permission from SOCOG to directly contact interstate visitors who had received tickets.
``We have started discussions with major travel groups to offer the properties to their client base, and we continue to receive direct referrals from visitors who have been ringing SOCOG wishing to source accommodation in Sydney," White said.
``Many of the large hotels that have been fully booked are now directing new inquiries to us.
``We will continue to market our services to such hotels."
The Internet is also being widely used to try to entice people who have tickets to use the home-stay option.
White said he remained confident about the future of the project and added that his firm was aggressively pursuing different avenues to find visitors for every property registered with the program.
``The consistent fact is that the number of visitors entering the program is closely linked to the amount of interstate residents who receive tickets," White said.
``There are another two rounds of ticket allocations to go.
``From the information we have received, we remain optimistic that we should satisfy the vast majority of our homeowners."
© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald
