Busan: Asian Games organisers were scrambling on Tuesday to jump-start sluggish ticket sales with ninety percent unsold just days before the opening ceremony.

Organisers have been forced to seek help from government officials, schools, news media and social organisations in a publicity campaign aimed at boosting awareness of Asia's biggest sporting carnival.

"We are suffering from a post-World Cup syndrome. Koreans, who have already been to the feast of the World Cup, do not care much for the Asian Games," said Um Doo-Wan, director of the ticket sales department of the organizing committee.

"Geographic distances between Seoul and Busan and between downtown Busan and Asiad venues also thwart many people to come to the Games," Um said. It takes five hours by train to get to Busan from Seoul.

An average 11 percent of a total of 2.7 million tickets have so far been sold, with large chunks of the sales for the football finals and opening ceremony. Some 80 percent of tickets for the opening ceremony have been booked or sold while all tickets for the football final and semi-finals have been allocated or sold.

Tickets for football matches involving South Korea, China and Japan have also been popular. However, sales for less popular events are sagging. Some events have sold just one or two percent of tickets on offer. Ninety percent of tickets for the closing ceremony are still up for grabs.

In a bid to avoid empty terraces at the closing ceremony, the organisers are giving away free tickets for the football final for spectators who buy premium tickets for the closing ceremony, Um said.

A premium ticket for the closing ceremony is worth 250,000 won. In an attempt to boost sales, the organizing committee has asked schools to organise trips to the Asiad and up to half a million students are expected to watch the games as part of class activity, Um said.

The committee has also launched a campaign to urge residents of Busan and four other venue cities to attend at least some of the Games. Mayors of Busan and four other nearby venue cities have taken to the streets or appeared on TV screens, calling on the mass to come to the Games venues.

Busan has a population of 3.8 million and the other four venue cities have a combined population of two million. The organisers have also offered drastic discounts for the Games. There is a 50 percent discount for students, the elderly and the handicapped and a 30 percent discount for adults.

"Thanks to the publicity campaign, public consciousness about the Games is being raised and we hope many of the remaining tickets will be sold at ticket boxes as the Games proceed," Um said.

"We hope we will be able to emulate the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul," he said. The Busan Games run from September 29 to October 14.