Berthia Parle, chairman of the Caribbean Hotel Association. – File
CASTRIES, St. Lucia (CMC):
Hotelier Berthia Parle says there are going to be a lot of disappointed St. Lucians in the aftermath of the Cricket World Cup as visitor arrivals for the event are unlikely to live up to the original bidding.
The Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) chairperson told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that she was aware of several cancellations of bookings made by tour operators who failed to meet the December deadline for deposits on rooms.
"Cricket Logistics, for example, had booked 50 rooms but have given most of those back having been unable to sell them," she said.
Lost enthusiasm
Parle, a former CHA president, said with England losing so badly to Australia in the recent Ashes and one-day tournaments, the British appeared to have lost a of enthusiasm to come to the Caribbean for the tournament. However, she admitted that there was still the possibility that if the team began to do well, people might take a last-minute decision and come out to support it.
"But generally, hotels are reporting reductions in the number of visitors which they anticipated with several of these reportedly moving to cruise ships which are expected here during the games," she told CMC.
Parle said, in addition, there were those who traditionally visited the region at this time but decided to stay away because of the expected influx of persons coming to the region for the games.
Legacy factor
However, she said hoteliers, generally, were buoyed by the huge marketing potential involved in the Caribbean hosting such a major event for the first time.
"For us, the legacy factor is paramount because Cricket World Cup will be beamed to regions of the world where we just don't have the resources to go in and market our islands," she said.
However, Parle cautioned, "We have to be careful that it is all managed correctly so that positive images of the region can be transmitted to the 150 million viewers expected for the competition," she said.
