Caching! Caching!

The 2007 International Cricket Council’s Cricket World Cup (ICC/CWC) is  expected to attract tens of thousands of cricket fans from around the world and give a boost to economic activities for several Caribbean venues that are vying to host the biggest event ever held in region. With the expected large crowds for the 40 days of international cricket,  Caribbean countries are into discussions and preparations for firming up bids to host the Cricket World Cup around April-May 2007. Spectator statistics indicate that in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa over 825, 000 tickets were bought for 54 match fixtures, with around 22,000 attending the opening ceremony and a record 32,827 fans attending the final match. The figures were provided to the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) by Chris Dehring, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer ICC/CWC West Indies 2007 Inc, a corporate subsidiary of the West Indies Cricket Board that will have prime responsibility for preparing for and running the World Cup tournament. South Africa also benefited from US$180 million in television rights when it held the World Cup. That country also received large numbers of foreign visitors from non-traditional markets, registering a 195 percent increase in Indian visitors during the World Cup months and a 97.5 percent in Asian visitors from a base of 14,000.

For the 2007 Cricket World Cup, what is being projected for the Caribbean countries that will host the international event will be the selling of 1,000,000 tickets; 100,000 visitors to the region; with as many as 40,000 attending the final. With the 54 matches being beamed to a television audience of 1.7 billion, a whooping US$275 million is the figure estimated for media rights. Outside the euphoria and giddiness about the sub-region hosting the prestigious 2007 Cricket World Cup, a real challenge exists principally in the area of accommodation and transportation for the huge visitor arrival. April is already one of the peak months for arrivals to Caribbean destinations, with visitors taking advantage of the Easter holidays/Spring break. On average, arrivals for April represent between nine and ten percent of the total arrivals for any given year.

A CTO think-tank on the 2007 Cricket World Cup identified the major tourism challenges for the hosting of the World Cup as accommodation, ground /air and sea transportation, airport capacities including custom/im-migration and other airport handling functions, provision of other recreational services such as restaurants and attractions among others and provision of support services in the area of banks, medical facilities and shopping facilities. During the special two-day summit two weeks ago, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government understanding the sheer importance of the region hosting the 2007 Cricket World Cup and its financial implications focused much of their discussions around the event. With competition for matches fierce, leaders have magnanimously given an undertaking that they will not allow the event to create any split or quarrel among them.

In preparation for the massive event, they agreed to establish a special  technical working group under the direction of the Prime Ministerial Sub Committee on Cricket headed by Prime Minister Lester Bird. That technical committee will comprise two representatives from the Sub Committee as well as representatives of the West Indies Cricket Board, the West Indies Cricket Cup body, the CARICOM Secretariat, the OECS Secretariat and a representative of Jamaica which is hosting the headquarters of the  ICC/CWC West Indies 2007 Inc. Conference Chairman Jamaica Prime Minister PJ Patterson said the region plans to approach the World Cup in a “commercially scientific manner,” meaning that “countries with a traditional cricket culture will not  necessarily dominate.” Bahamas, a non-cricketing nation, spotting a rare cricketing opportunity  for financial boon to its tourism-based economy has jumped into the fray, announcing its intentions to make a pitch as one of the venues to host the World Cup. Prime Minister Perry Christie readily and unashamedly admitted that Bahamas’ interest in hosting the matches really peaked when he heard about the huge number of people from around the world who travel to watch the game of cricket. “Straight away the Bahamas qualified itself given the fact that we have the necessary tourism infrastructure to accommodate large numbers of persons,” said Christie.

The format for the 2007 World Cup will include 16 teams with the first round involving four series of four matches. Sponsors have decided that no fewer than six and no more that eight venues will be needed. Successful bids will be announced by year-end. In Kingston three weeks ago, Patterson called on Jamaicans for national support as preparations are put in place for the anticipated Jamaica’s leg of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. He noted that while the staging of the event was a “massive undertaking,” Jamaica and the rest of the region was up to the task and called for the support of the private sector, non-government groups, and every facet of civil society, including the church. Patterson remarked that at long last, the West Indies has been afforded the deserved recognition for its distinctive contribution to international cricket, by its designation as host for the World Cup tournament in 2007. “To the people of the Caribbean, cricket is not simply a pastime or a recreational activity. It is a way of life. It is a potent force for uniting our people and is unquestionably the most visible and successful  manifestation of Caribbean integration,” the Jamaican leader noted. “The entire government of Jamaica is determined to ensure that this tournament is a memorable success. The Leader of the Opposition has been in daily contact with me about the progress in the arrangements and so has the newly elected mayor of this city.”

On the worrying issue of hotel accommodation for the influx of visitors for the matches, the CTO think-tank said with the exception of Jamaica, the traditional test match destinations have fewer than 10,000 rooms currently available and projections suggest that without significant investment into the hotel plant, this is unlikely to change by 2007. “With respect to Jamaica, an important factor is that most of the hotel rooms are located in the major tourist areas which are some distance away from Kingston where Sabina Park, the traditional Test Match ground, is situated,” according to CTO’s Secretary General Jean Holder who presented the findings of the think-tank. “This has implications either for a new cricket location or for dealing creatively with the logistics of moving people to Kingston. “The number of visitors to Trinidad and Guyana where a large percentage of the visitor traffic comprise persons travelling for business reasons, may differ less from month to month than would be the case in respect of other countries with more vacation traffic. “It may be assumed with respect to the other countries that half of the  accommodation will be available to accommodate non-traditional flows.”

The CTO think-tank said a matching of currently available rooms with the numbers expected particularly for the opening ceremony and final games,  suggests that the venues which are most frequently used for test matches in the region will have to address the accommodation issues “with all speed and that creative solutions will have to be considered.” These include the possibility of accommodating people in one country and transporting them to another on a daily basis for games of their choice, which will have the added advantage of allowing non-venue countries to be a part of the event. A cruise option has been suggested to provide some of the temporary accommodation required during the period. Chief Executive Officer of the ICC, Malcolm Speed said despite the obvious logistical challenges of such an event being hosted across seven or eight countries in the region, “we have a great deal of faith that in partnership with the other cricketing countries, and with the ICC, that in 2007, you will put on a world class event that will have a unique Caribbean flavour that will give the rest of the cricketing world an opportunity to see how much the citizens of the West Indies enjoy the great game of cricket.” Speed described West Indies cricket “as one of the true phenomenon of the world of sports. This region has earned the right to host this event through hard work and great performance on the cricket field and proving to the rest of the cricketing world that you have the ability as administrators to run one of the world’s major sporting events.”