Transportation and accommodation for the 2010 Vancouver Games remain areas of concern with only 10 months to go, the International Olympic Committee said Wednesday.

The eighth visit of the IOC to review plans for the Winter Games ended Wednesday. It was considered a positive meeting by both sides, but the IOC said Vancouver organizers need to get serious about figuring out how they are going to move people around next February.

"It's very difficult and a lot of question marks are there and I see [the organizing committee] has got a clear understanding of the need to go detail by detail to finalize it," said Gilbert Felli, the executive director of Olympic Games for the IOC.

A winter's worth of test events helped highlight some of the problems in the transportation department, Felli said, citing manoeuvring athletes and spectators in and out of Nordic venues as an example.

In terms of accommodation, all the IOC officials would say is that they're confident a good solution will be reached.

Organizers still haven't found all of the rooms they need in either Vancouver or Whistler, in part because private property owners are holding out in hopes of getting higher prices.

In the meantime, people hoping to book rooms during the Games are having a hard time finding any. Hotels are refusing to release rooms to the public until Olympic organizers figure out what they need.

Government agencies and security forces are having similar problems sourcing accommodation — police and military will stay on cruise ships and some government workers might sleep in temporary trailers.

"In the late spring, we'll get a little bit of a better picture in terms of what can come together to increase the inventory [for the public]," said Terry Wright, executive vice-president of services and operations for the organizing committee, known as VANOC.

The IOC said the challenges aren't unexpected — the year before an Olympics is the most trying time for an organizing committee.

"Especially due to the financial environment and all the situations we have here, it is not easy," said René Fasel, the chairman of the IOC's co-ordination commission for the 2010 Winter Games.

"But it is normal."

The economic downturn is posing a problem for the IOC as well, which has still not reached its target of signing up 11 international sponsors for the Games.

The Vancouver organizing committee is short about three or four sponsors as well, though VANOC announced earlier this week it is in talks with at least one that would help the Games go carbon-neutral.

Ticket sales successful

Despite the problems, ticket sales have been a runaway success for the committee, netting $94.7 million in the first round.

Organizer refuse to disclose how many tickets were sold. There are 1.6 million tickets available to the public overall.

The second round of sales will begin June 6. Organizers said details on those sales will be released in the coming weeks.

Details of VANOC's ticket resale program will be made available this summer.

Felli said the IOC supports local organizers' efforts to crack down on the unauthorized sale of Olympic committee and sponsor tickets to the public.

If the IOC finds out that is actually happening, they will take steps to act, he said.

The co-ordination commission is scheduled to return to Vancouver in June for a project review and then again in August for their final inspection.

The Olympics begin on Feb. 12, 2010.