Pan Am tickets have last-minute discount

Attention shoppers: Pan Am tickets are moving to the discount bin just days ahead of the opening ceremonies.

Volunteers and partners were offered 25-per-cent discounts this month. Now lead sponsor CIBC is marking down all remaining tickets in honour of Canada Day.

With news last week that only about 650,000 tickets had been sold, just under half of the1.4 million available, the move risks appearing desperate.

“There is no doubt this is a push at the last minute,” said Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University.

“It looks like they may have to be giving away the tickets to get people to go.”

The tie-in to Canada Day could mitigate the negatives, Middleton said, along with the frequent reminders from organizers that not every seat will be filled.

People who already bought tickets, which have been on offer since September, “might be feeling a bit miffed,” he added, though last-minute deals are common.

The London 2012 Olympics sold 97 per cent of the 8.5 million tickets available. It was the same story in Vancouver, where organizers sold 97 per cent of the 1.54 million tickets at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Despite the numbers, Toronto 2015 organizing committee chair David Peterson is not concerned.

“I think it’s going remarkably well. I’m very enthusiastic about it,” he said.

“More than a third of the sports are all sold out. The medal rounds are selling out. Some of the preliminary ones aren’t as quick, but this is normal in the circumstances.”

The promotion runs until Thursday.

The Pan Am Games run July 10-26. The Parapan Games are Aug. 7-15.