SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Six weeks before the start of the cricket World Cup, tournament
organizers are rolling out a last-minute advertising blitz in the Caribbean to
boost sagging ticket sales.
About half the seats for matches in the nine host countries are still available,
and officials are rallying local fans to take up the slack once over-the-counter
ticket sales begin on Thursday.
Its going to depend on local support, chief ticketing officer Delroy Taylor
said. Were expecting the people of the Caribbean will come through in this last
phase.
The host nations have spent millions of dollars (euros) on new stadiums, roads
and other improvements ahead of the tournament, billed as the largest sporting
event ever in the Caribbean. Gaps in the stands could sour what many of the
tiny countries prize as a rare moment in the global media spotlight.
Not all venues are struggling — hosts of later rounds are already turning
fans away from some matches, including the final in Barbados.
But other countries, including Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts, are worried
because they lack high-profile contests.
As many as 100,000 tourists are expected during the March 11-April 28 tournament,
and foreigners account for many of the tickets sold. When sales resume Thursday
after a two-month hiatus, organizers hope for a surge of sales to locals.
In terms if our culture, we really are a last-minute people, said Roxanne
Morris, commercial manager for the Jamaican organizing committee.
A new strategy aims to energize the Caribbean, first-time hosts of the tournament,
with a barrage of advertisements over the first three weeks in February. Ticket
centers will hand out World Cup posters, bumper stickers, and CDs with the tournament
song — The game of love and unity, by local artists including Jamaican-born
Shaggy.
Over a dancehall beat, the lyrics drive home the message: This is it, one big
game, that you cannot miss/ No matter who you are — everyones on the list.
Even rural villages are targeted.
A road show in Antigua, which has yet to sell half its tickets for six Super
8 matches, will sell tickets at stops throughout the countryside. In Trinidad,
well-known calypso artist Shurwayne Winchester is performing at free concerts
with a cricket caravan to promote the World Cup.
A lack of widespread Internet access may have prevented people in poor Caribbean
nations from buying tickets earlier, Taylor said. Prices range from US$15 to
US$90 (€69.65) for single matches in the group stage, and US$25 (€19.35)
to US$100 (€77.39) for the Super 8 round.
Many hotels report cricket fans from overseas, particularly the United Kingdom,
have snapped up all their vacancies. But critics of a special visa regime argue
it has discouraged other foreigners. Designed to facilitate travel among host
countries, the policy treats them as a common space during the tournament with
one visa accepted by all.
Horace Peterkin, president of the Jamaican Hotel and Tourism Association, said
fans from countries like Australia that would not have needed a visa have likely
been turned away by the hassle and US$100 (€77.39) cost.
In the group stage, played in St. Kitts, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Jamaica,
sales have been strongest for matches involving the home-team West Indies and
powerhouses like Australia and India. The top two clubs from each four-team
group advance to the Super 8 round, set for Antigua, Grenada, Guyana and Barbados.
On the day of the final, Barbados expects 14 cruise ships to call on its port,
with hundreds of yachts ferrying fans from nearby islands. Those without tickets
can expect a carnival-like atmosphere with parties and big-screen televisions
outside the stadium, said Terry Mayers, a spokesman for the Barbados organizing
committee.
One key factor in locals excitement, organizers say, will be the performance
of the West Indies, which will seek its third championship since winning the
first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979.
We need for them to do well, Morris said. If we can get that kind of positive
energy, hopefully it will translate into a positive turnout.
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