Tokyo Olympics to bar overseas spectators from postponed Games
- Some 600,000 foreign visitors were initially expected to attend
“The Tokyo Olympics will be a completely different event from the Games in the past, but the essence – athletes giving their all and moving people’s hearts with their performance – will still be the same,” Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto said.
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No overseas spectators allowed at pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics
While the decision has been largely expected since media reports raised the possibility in early March, the lack of foreign spectators is set to lead to losses of millions of dollars due to cancelled ticket sales. It will also exasperate a dearth of tourism expenditures that was once expected to help boost an industry already battered by the pandemic.
Before the games were postponed last year, some 600,000 foreign visitors were expected to attend, in addition to more than 11,000 athletes. The Tokyo Olympic Committee in December estimated overall ticket sales of about 90 billion yen (US$827 million), or about 12 per cent of total expected revenue from the Games. About 900,000 of the 10 million tickets that were initially expected to be sold went to overseas fans, according to the Nikkei newspaper.
It’s still unclear how many local fans might be permitted to enter stadiums. The Sankei newspaper has reported that organisers were considering setting a ceiling of up to 50 per cent capacity. That would limit the National Stadium, set to host the opening ceremony on July 23, to a crowd of 34,000.
