Do you want tickets for Tokyo Olympic? No problem if you have $ 60,000

Problems getting tickets for the Tokyo Olympics next year?

This is not a problem if you have $ 60,000 to spend.

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics are offering Japanese high-end accommodation packages, priced at 6.35 million yen – about $ 60,000. This is good for the opening and closing ceremony, nine days of athletics with luxurious seating and sumptuous dinners. Low-end packages drop to around $ 1,500 for a session at a less popular event.

Tokyo announces itself as a very expensive Olympics.

As the demand for tickets is unprecedented, unofficial resale will likely be flourishing. Hotel rates are skyrocketing. And arriving here will be expensive, especially for travelers from the Americas and Europe.

"I do not know if I can afford to go to the Olympics," Los Angeles-based sports agent Brant Feldman told The Associated Press. He has attended seven consecutive Olympics and represents US and Canadian athletes for AGM Sports. "For the average family currently heading to the Olympics, it will be the most expensive in history."

Organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games believe that luxury packages are an "opportunity for families, friends and business contacts" to enjoy the games. In the words of the organizers, here is what is included with the tickets:

– Champagne, sake and specially selected beers

– a gourmet menu prepared by the best international chefs

– fine wines chosen by our sommelier

– Elegant VIP commemorative VIP access

– first-class personal service capable of handling any request

– the appearances of the hosts of the event and the celebrities.

Hospitality packages, of course, are for the affluent, and are aimed at executives who view the Olympics as a meeting place for business and chatting with the sport as a seductive side show.

There is also an old-fashioned way for residents of Japan to buy rare notes: a so-called "second chance" lottery that closed on Monday. The results will be announced next month and another lottery for residents of Japan will be held in the fall.

For the moment, those living outside of Japan must go through authorized ticket dealers, who are inundated with unprecedented demand. They also offer premium packages and are allowed to use a 20% service charge for each ticket. And many of the best tickets are linked to expensive hotels.

A random search of well-known AP hotel reservation sites has revealed prices ranging from $ 1,000 to $ 1,500 per night for most 3 or 4 star hotels, with a few available. There have been complaints that many hotels are canceling previous bookings to secure the markup.

Even the famous capsule hotels of Japan – or sleep basins – will cost more to explore inland with prices three or four times higher on online booking sites.

In a statement to AP, Tokyo organizers said they were working with "the government and the accommodation and travel industries to control prices."

Quoting a government report, organizers say that there are 300,000 rooms "in different classes" in Tokyo and in neighboring prefectures.

Olympic athletes are guaranteed accommodations and have access to a few tickets for event sessions in which they participate. After that, family and friends are autonomous.

"If your son or daughter qualifies for the 2020 Olympics, I do not know how these families will afford to buy plane tickets, airline tickets, hotels or hotels. get the tickets, "said Feldman.

Those who plan to wait until the last moment to book rooms, which sometimes become available because the organizers generally overestimate the number of rooms needed and the number of foreign visitors, may be excluded.

It may not happen this time.

Demand in Tokyo is partly based on a giant metropolitan area of ​​35 million people, on the safety of its streets and its long-term support for the Olympics.

Based in Australia, Kingdom Sports Group, an official reseller that deals mainly with Asia and Africa, said on a social networking site that Tokyo was "30 times more popular" than London in 2012. London is often considered the reference in matters of Olympic interest.

Ken Hanscom, a ticketing expert who runs TicketManager, based in Los Angeles, told AP "It's the biggest (Olympic) demand of all time – by far."

The big winner could be the Paralympic Games, opened a few weeks after the close of the Olympic Games on August 9, 2020. The Japan Paralympic lottery kicked off Thursday with 2.3 million tickets available.

Just over 80 per cent of Japanese residents who applied for the event did not receive anything in the first draw of Olympic tickets earlier this year. Of those who won tickets in June, many had far less than they expected.

The organizers say that 3.22 million tickets were sold in the first phase. The demand seems to exceed the offer of at least 10 times. Another 680,000 tickets are available at this lottery, but only for those who were excluded the first time.

Tokyo organizers say that there are 7.8 million tickets for the Olympics. They estimate that between 70 and 80% will go to the general public in Japan. The difference between the highest and the lowest percentage is 780,000 tickets, giving organizers flexibility in the way tickets are distributed.

The remaining tickets are sold abroad or sent to sponsors, national Olympic committees and sports federations.

The organizers hope to earn $ 800 million through ticket sales, which is a big income for the $ 5.6 billion privately funded operating budget.

A report released last year by the National Government Audit Committee said that Japan would spend a total of $ 25 billion to prepare the games. It is public money, except the operating budget. The organizers dispute the figure and claim that it is about $ 12 billion, although the costs of the Olympics – and those that are not – are the subject of A lively debate.

Tokyo was forecasting a total cost of about $ 7.5 billion for its winning games offering in 2013.