IOC seeks improvement in ticketing system

LONDON – The International Olympic Committee is seeking to improve the ticketing system for upcoming games in Vancouver and London to avoid the problem of empty seats that occurred in Beijing this year.

The IOC and London organizers, meanwhile, expressed confidence Thursday that the 2012 Olympics will be a success despite the global economic downturn. And London’s Olympic chief said the games will be “secure” from terrorism.

Olympic officials concluded weeklong meetings aimed at passing on lessons learned from the Beijing Games, which the IOC described as “an indisputable success” that could lead to further social, economic and political progress in China.

The Beijing review was primarily meant for London, host for 2012. Organizers of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, also took part. So did officials from the four cities bidding for the 2016 Summer Games: Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.