Korea’s Olympic plans

Press, 8 July 1986, Page 28

Korea’s Olympic plans

Although the 24th Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, are about 222y 2 years away, the Olympic Organising Committee and the Korea National Tourism Corporation have worked out a plan to alleviate accommodation shortages in the Korean capital. Under construction, to be completed by May, 1988, are apartments with approximately 14,000 rooms.

These “temporary hotels” will have all necessary facilities such as restaurants, laundries, post offices, tours and transport desks, and business centres.

In addition, 16,500 rooms in yogwans (Korean-style inns) will also be set aside for the use of foreign visitors. Yogwans, which have traditionally been used by

domestic Travellers and have between 30 and 60 rooms each, are not as plush as tourist hotels. However, facilities are as good as the larger and more sophisticated tourist hotels.

The new apartments and selected yogwans are conveniently located near the competition venues for the 1988 Olympics. An added bonus is that the room rates will be fixed around 50 per cent of the tourist hotel rates. Detailed information on rooms and reservations will be made available after the conclusion of the 10th Asian Games in October, 1986. The ticketing policy for the 1988 Olympics will also be finalised after the 1986 Asian Games although basic guidelines have already been established:

® Admission tickets will go on sale in the later part of 1987. • The Seoul Olympic Organising Committee will set ticket prices at a reasonable level so that as many people as possible will be able to attend the Games. • The overseas allocation of tickets will be based largely on ticket requirements and estimated number of visitors from each country. • A guide to admission tickets will be published before the start of foreign ticket sales. ■ : . More, information on Olympic and Asian Games tickets and room reservations is available from the Korea National Tourism Corporation, Suite 2101, Tower Building, Australia Square, George Street, Sydney 2000, telephone (02) 27 4132.