Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he is confident that civic groups can help bring more people to the Summer Universiade next month, even though ticket sales have been lackluster.
The Universiade is to run from Aug. 19 to Aug. 30, but sales of individual and package tickets as of June 30 had not exceeded 20 percent and a survey conducted by the Taipei City Government suggested that less than one-third of the city’s residents are interested in buying tickets.
To attract public attention and boost ticket sales, the city government yesterday announced that starting from Saturday, 71 temporary booths will be set up in the city’s crowded areas to provide information on Universiade events, venues and tickets.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
It is to also organize interactive games for participants to win prizes.
The booths are to be run by the city’s 12 district offices, borough chiefs and several civic groups that have volunteered to assist in promotions.
Responding to concerns about low sales, Ko said he wants the tickets to be open to the public in the first stage, but will consider asking civic groups to mobilize more people to attend if it becomes necessary.
“Sometimes when the government meets promotion difficulties, it can partially rely on the power of the civic sector,” he said.
“Taiwan’s civic groups’ ability to mobilize people is surprisingly good, especially the four major civic groups [Rotary International, Lions Clubs International, Kiwanis Taiwan and the Taiwan Junior Chamber] and major religious groups,” he added.
Citing the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung as an example, Ko said the public usually becomes more interested in such events in the last month before the opening ceremony.
In addition, sales of tickets and memorabilia also significantly increase in this period, so the public will become more aware of the Universiade in the coming days, Ko added.
Responding to a question about the NT$360 million (US$11.8 million) budget for the opening and closing ceremonies, Ko said he had doubts about setting the ticket price at only NT$800 for more than 80 percent of opening ceremony seats.
However, the city government’s decision team wishes that most city residents would be able to afford and attend the event together, he said.
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