Sea to Sky residents will have an exclusive opportunity later this month to buy 2010 Olympic event tickets in a special "Locals" ticket offer announced by VANOC officials this week.
Residents of Squamish and all communities north to Mount Currie must register for a ticketing account with their local mailing address in advance at vancouver2010.com in order to participate in the two-day locals ticket sale Oct. 24 and 25.
Demand for tickets from the Sea to Sky community has been strong, said Caley Denton, VANOC's VP of ticketing.
"We know (this) will go a long way to reaching the needs of the locals here in the corridor," he said during a media briefing on Tuesday (Oct. 13).
About 20,000 tickets will be available for Sea to Sky residents for events at Whistler-area venues only, Denton said. For the small corridor population it's a "good" amount of tickets, but it's a small piece compared to the total of approximately 1.6 million tickets, he said.
VANOC's ticketing department is continuing to work with venue teams to increase the number of tickets that can be sold to locals, Denton said.
"Our goal is to make as many tickets available as possible," he said.
Those who purchase locals tickets will also receive an exclusive bonus of two Whistler Victory Ceremony tickets for the nightly events at the Medals Plaza. This is the first time tickets to the sought-after ceremonies have been available.
Residents will have a choice of two tickets when they pick up their locals event tickets at the Whistler ticket centre by Dec. 31.
Terry Wright, VANOC's executive VP of Games operations, said a number of factors went into the decision to offer Sea to Sky residents an exclusive block of Olympic tickets.
The tickets do not include access to the Olympic bus network (OBN), so they will ease some of the transportation demands in Whistler, he said. Maximum capacity for the OBN has already been reached in Whistler.
As well, B.C. Transit service will increase five fold in Whistler during the Games, so the goal is to make sure that investment is used, Wright said.
An opportunity for locals to purchase additional event tickets is also designed to encourage corridor residents to have family and friends come to stay during the Games. The aim is also to help increase business for the mountains and local business operators, Wright said.
Pre-registration for an Olympic ticket account is necessary and must be complete before 7 p.m. on Oct. 23 to be eligible for the locals ticket sale, Denton said. An existing account is also necessary for ticket purchases over the phone.
Those who already have an existing ticket account with a Sea to Sky mailing address are encouraged to log on and ensure that the account is active and all information is correct.
Ticket sales will start at 10 a.m. on Oct. 24 and will continue until all tickets are sold or until Oct. 25 at 5 p.m.
The tickets will not be delivered and must be collected in person at the Whistler main ticket centre, which is set to open Nov. 26 in a location near the Medals Plaza. Victory Ceremony tickets will be available with locals ticket pickup while supplies last.
Denton said the program for the general distribution of Victory Ceremony tickets is still being developed.
Locals tickets cannot be resold through the fan-to-fan marketplace, which is due to launch in late November.
The special locals ticket sale is in addition to the third and final phase of Olympic ticket sales, which start Nov. 7. The third phase will include about 100,000 tickets available exclusively to events in Vancouver and Richmond.
