– now “flagship” tourism event in the region
By Michael Younge
The government of Guyana said it would be working earnestly to exploit the benefits that can be derived from the second staging of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (LCPL) in 2014, given its resounding success and contributions to national and regional tourism growth in 2013.
Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Irfaan Ali told Guyana Times on Monday that LCPL is now considered one of the flagship tourism events of the year.
“I think the LCPL is here to stay and the partnerships that it would have established across the region are good and were a resounding success, as there are tremendous economic and social benefits therein which far outweighs the investments made,” he said.
He acknowledged the potential of the tournament to provide the greatest opportunities for sports tourism in Guyana, the region, and beyond.
“In 2013, though the tournament had a very short planning window, the benefits that it brought to the regional economy were indeed enormous. Guyana even benefited, additionally, by having one of its national products (Limacol) being the overall sponsor for the tournament,” he explained.
This development resulted in much attention and interest being generated about the country. As a result of LCPL, contact was made with more than 30 million households, regionally and internationally, according to government estimates.
Guyana has received focused attention as an investment destination because of the opportunities offered to the rest of the world, Ali said. “We are seeing investors and stakeholders from non-traditional areas outside of North America, from Asia, UK and Australia now having an interest in Guyana,” he said.
One needs not look far to see evidence that the entertainment and service sectors would have also benefited tremendously from the 2013 tournament.
Sharp increase in arrivals
Asked whether the LCPL tournament had a direct impact on arrivals, Minister Ali responded in the affirmative, explaining that during the tournament a sharp increase was recorded.
The minister noted that several hotels were fully booked, and entertainment hotspots and restaurants packed. Scores of Guyanese opted to return home, while many Caribbean Community (Caricom) citizens wanted to catch part of the action.
He said the event managed to create quite a stir in the diaspora because of the composition of the teams with the mixture of local, regional and international players, and the hype and party atmosphere associated with the league.
“In 2014, we are planning to have our own promotion in Guyana because of the interest in LCPL in the diaspora is significant. We must tap into that area,” he stressed.
The minister said that attempts are being made to actively engage the LCPL on certain allowances to safeguard the participation from more persons in the diaspora. “We will be discussing with the tournament organisers, an opportunity to have a specific number of tickets available directly to the diaspora so that we can have a more measurable approach to how many persons we bring in,” he said.
Access to tickets
As expected, Minister Ali, when asked to reflect on the challenges faced in hosting the LCPL tournament last year, pinpointed access to tickets as a challenge for some of the games.
Despite this, he said: “We are hoping to strategise our marketing and tourism plan around LCPL to ensure that we get into this market.”
The tourism minister said it was hoped too that there will be more scheduled flights available in 2014 when the tournament is staged to facilitate the large influx of visitors.
He said experts in the ministry expect more hits on their Facebook pages and more requests for information via the tourism stakeholders on ‘Destination Guyana’.
“I think the foundation has been laid and the LCPL is a major initiative for the tourism sector and we intend to do everything that we can do to capitalise on it,” Ali said. He added that tourism stakeholders noted the enormous trickledown effect of the event.
Asked what else can be done to boost the interest in Guyana during the 2014 tournament, the minister said that the next step must be taken by the region en bloc.
“We need to meet as a collective to ensure that we make it easier for persons to travel within the region for LCPL… Maybe, we need to relook at the World Cup model for a sunset legislation dealing with the one entry clearance,” he advised.
Ali maintained that these are moves that can only improve the tournament, and the time is ripe for governments to strategise on ways in which they can make travelling and connections easier for regional flights so that there can be an easier flow of people.
“LCPL will be a grand success in 2014,” the minister predicted.
