Big 'no' to greedy Games

By LES BLOXHAM

New Zealanders have decided the Sydney Olympics are a non-event, much to the dismay of airlines, wholesalers and agents.

With the opening ceremony barely a month away, indications are that only 2000 of the 12,000 New Zealanders who were expected to attend will be there.

The travel industry is blaming Air New Zealand's high fares and the pricey packages offered by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Socog).

Air NZ, an official Olympic carrier, admits it is disappointed. Public affairs spokesman Cameron Hill said there had been moderate sales, but nothing spectacular.

The airline now sees no need to schedule extra flights to Sydney.

A check on availability from Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland on the three days before the Games open revealed plenty of empty seats on most flights.

The cheapest $599 advance-purchase fares are even being offered from Wellington, including for the early flight on the day of the opening ceremony.

A year ago, Air NZ's round-trip fares for this "peak" Olympic period were being quoted at almost $1000.

"Air New Zealand charged like a wounded bull," said the Wellington manager of Harvey World Travel, Jim Christie.

"They were too darned expensive."

Other agents agreed, saying that if the airline had been more realistic in the first place, support for the Games might have been much stronger.

The airline offered no comment why the fares had been set at such a high level.

Qantas opted to retain normal fare levels but its bookings are not looking any better.

The airline's marketing manager in Auckland, David Libeau, confirmed that pre-Olympic bookings to Sydney were not as good as the company would have liked.

Travel agents are upset that the Olympic packages carried no commission - only a flat fee. One agent, who did not want to be identified, said he had received only $50 for selling a $20,000 Olympic booking.

"There have been no takers - everyone was too greedy right down the line," said Lorraine Mair, leisure manager of Wellington agency BTI Barlow.

Helen Smart, of Passport Travel in Christchurch, said about 80 per cent of initial bookings had been cancelled and deposits refunded after clients had realised the cost of the packages.

Malcolm Beattie, managing director of Olympic agents Sports World in Auckland, blamed Socog's ticketing policies and its "changing the playing field from what we originally went into."

Socog had launched a range of packages that included the opening and closing ceremonies, but only the most expensive ($1700) had been made available to New Zealanders, he said.

"People who had been looking at taking a family to Sydney and who had reason to believe that the total cost of the tickets would be about $800 were suddenly up for $6000, so they cancelled - and you can't blame them for doing that."

Mr Beattie said he was disappointed at the lack of interest from the business sector. About 90 per cent of the 5500 projected business bookings had fallen through.

Companies had blamed their changes of heart on high prices, economic uncertainty and spending on the America's Cup and rugby events, he said.

Sydney still has thousands of rooms in the two-star and apartment categories available. One Wellington agent advertised on the internet for accommodation and received 130 replies from small hotels and motels at up to $A450 ($576) a night.

Herald Online Olympics