With less than 100 days before the Games begin, barely a third of the tickets have been sold.
Oh, other hotel owners and local authorities say political tensions with North Korea and China have chilled foreign interest in the Games, which open on Feb. 9 just 80 km from the world's most heavily fortified border.
Nearby, a bus terminal which undertook a $447,000 makeover in preparation for the Olympics was largely empty, with only one Chinese couple and a handful of locals seen waiting for buses.
The number of Chinese visitors, which accounted for nearly half of all foreign tourists into South Korea last year, slumped 61 percent from March to September from the same period last year, official data shows.
The ski resort spent tens of millions of dollars building six Olympics courses and renovating some 1,000 rooms to accommodate foreign officials during the Olympics.
South Korea planned to use the Olympics to introduce foreign tourism to Gangwon province.
Pitched at Chinese tourists, it was to provide accommodation during the Games.
Governor Choi said he was also worried about delays to a $450 million project to build a Legoland in the city of Chuncheon, about 145 km (90 miles) from the Games venue.
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