Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer
Construction work being done at Sabina Park last year in preparation for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
THE JAMAICA Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) says hotels will gain little from the staging of the ICC Cricket World Cup.
"The only unfortunate thing is that it is being staged at a time we will be able to fill the rooms anyway, so in terms of incremental increase to the hotels, it will be marginal," JHTA president, Horace Peterkin, told The Sunday Gleaner.
"It would have been a lot more beneficial if it came in April/May than March/April," he explained, noting that traditionally, March to Easter is the busiest time of the year for hotels.
The JHTA head said smaller hotels should benefit more from the staging of the games than larger ones, as those hotel rooms would have been filled anyway.
He said it would have
been better for hotels if cricket organisers had accepted an initial proposal to host the games in May.
Head of the University of Technology's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Karen Ford- Warner, agrees the staging of the games may not necessarily be beneficial to hotels.
BENEFITS TO BED AND
BREAKFAST PROVIDERS
"One isn't too sure what kind of incremental benefits the hoteliers will get. The benefits might come from the additional rooms that will need to be sourced from individuals involved in bed and breakfast programmes," she said.
But there will be good economic opportunities for people in the allied services within the industry such as ground transportation and the restaurant sector, she added. The event should also break ground for opportunities in employment and training.
"This is a good opportunity to work on improving our product including ... our people who are involved in our industry in terms of the level of service we will have to offer," she said.
But at least one hotel group expects to benefit from the cricket tournament. According to Nicola Madden-Greg, marketing and communications manager of the Knutsford Court and Courtleigh hotels in Kingston, these hotels are already benefiting from Cricket World Cup, adding that hotels in Kingston and adjoining parishes should also gain.
"We've been seeing benefits because the ICC offices are located in Kingston. We've been having consultants and various other persons coming in from the last year ... so there are direct benefits in terms of accommodation," she reported.
Pat Francis, president of the Jamaica Promotions Group, said earlier this week that the country should be earning at least seven times what it spent to prepare the country for the games when 20,000 visitors descend on the island next year. She said the country should earn a conservative sum of US$700 million from both direct tourism spending and ticket sales, but the figure could stretch to over US$900 million.
This contradicts Finance Minister Omar Davies' disclosure of US$9 million from the over $100 million budgeted expenditure on preparation for the cricket tournament. Davies was responding to questions from the Opposition during the meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament last week.
