Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
THE WORLD Cup of cricket is less than one year away and the organisers, certainly those in Jamaica, are concerned.
Why are they concerned? They are concerned that the people of the region, the people of Jamaica, are not excited about the tournament.
According to them, the reasons for that are what they see as the negative press and the criticisms, particularly over the past few days, over the amount of money being spent and the projected returns.
The truth, however, is that the lack of excitement by the people is the fault of the organisers themselves. It is their fault for the simple reason that their focus, their marketing strategy, is wrong, and things will not change until they change their strategy.
In a bid to make as much money as they can, the organisers have been marketing the World Cup as a windfall for the economy of the region. They have been selling it as a tourist attraction, as something that will earn millions upon millions of tourist dollars during and after the event - long after event, and they have been encouraging the people, people in every nook and cranny of this island, not to turn up and watch the event, but wherever they are, even in places that tourists who are expected to come here for the cricket are unlikely to visit, to invest their money in goods and services.
When all is said and done, however, the World Cup is a cricket event and it should be marketed as such so that people, from Jamaica, from around the region, and from all over the world will want to come and witness it.
OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE MONEY
Right now, however, and apart from the cost of admission to the games, the marketing is such that the people, the ordinary people, see the World Cup as an opportunity to make money, not only by the tourist industry on behalf of the Government and the people, but also by those who can afford to invest, those with rooms to let, and that is one reason, one big reason, why the people are not excited about it - certainly not as they were back in 1998 when it was awarded to the West Indies.
The World Cup is a cricket event, it is the cricket that is going to excite the people. It is the cricket and the promise of the best up against the best that will attract people to the island and it is time that it is marketed as such - as it has been in Barbados for at least the past year.
It is time that Jamaica starts to market the World Cup of cricket: it is time, for example, that our airports are decked out with banners inviting people to Jamaica to see the World Cup; it is time that banners are on the roads from the airports into Kingston, Montego Bay and the resorts areas.
It is time that the organisers start to sell the World Cup by promoting its great moments and its great players; and if they really want to get the people of Jamaica excited and interested, it is time they start, in the airports, in the hotels and everywhere possible, to remind them of the glory days of West Indies cricket and the stars of the West Indies in those days.
