Opening Ceremony will Determine Success of Cricket World Cup – Walsh

Legendary West Indies fast bowler and Jamaica’s Ambassador-at-large, Courtney Walsh, has said that the success of Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 will depend on the success of the opening ceremony to be held at the Trelawny multi-purpose stadium on March 11, 2007.
“We, the people of Jamaica, will have to kick-start the World Cup in the right vein,” he said at a press conference held at the Jamaican Consulate General in Toronto, Canada on Monday (Oct. 23).
Ambassador Walsh was part of a team visiting Toronto to update Jamaicans in the Diaspora, on how they can play their part in ensuring the success of the third largest sporting event in the world.
The team, which comprised Executive Director of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) Robert Bryan; Deputy Director of Tourism, David Shields; and Air Jamaica’s Director of Cricket World Cup, Richard Lue, also spoke with members of cricket clubs and cricket fans on Sunday (Oct. 22).
Cricket World Cup 2007 will be staged at 12 venues in nine Caribbean countries between March 11 and April 28, 2007, with a total of 16 international teams participating in some 51 matches.
According to Mr. Bryan, the preparations by the region to host the World Cup were going well and the focus now was on marketing the event and filling the venues. He informed that the Trelawny multi-purpose stadium was scheduled for completion in another four weeks and renovations at Sabina Park should be finished in six weeks. Representatives of the International Cricket Council (ICC) are due in the island in November, to view the preparations and infrastructure.
Noting that transportation would be critical because of the different venues, Mr. Lue said cricket lovers would need to plan their itineraries well in advance. He cautioned fans to go through one of the 57 official travel agents licensed to sell packages and tickets for the games. In Canada, the agents are Uniglobe and Tourcan.
Mr. Lue informed that Air Jamaica would be looking at putting in place additional flights, if the need arose.Meanwhile, Mr. Shields noted that the staging of CWC 2007 during the winter tourist season would boost visitor arrivals next year.
He noted that several projects should be completed by then, including renovations at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and new rooms through Iberostar and Pinero hotel chains.
The marketing team will next visit Belfast and Dublin in Ireland and India.