Alvin Jemmott: president of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association.

by CAROL MARTINDALE

AS APRIL BEGINS, expectations are normally high among those in the hotel industry eagerly looking forward to a crush of visitors pouring in for the Easter season.

And with the Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 now in full gear at the Super 8 second-round stage, climaxing in the grand final in Barbados on April 28, there were even greater expectations and supposedly big benefits in store. But this may not now be the case.

With big names India and Pakistan now out of CWC – teams which normally travel with huge spectator support – there is now a dark cloud hanging over some hoteliers' plans in Barbados.

Some have already reported cancellations and are finding creative ways to drum up business over the next few weeks, while others are trying to remain positive with their less than satisfactory occupancy rates.

But president of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Alvin Jemmott is offering hoteliers some hope. He said they were doing everything possible to make CWC deliver for Barbados.

"We will not lie down until the last day. Everything that can be done is being done," he said during a telephone interview with the SUNDAY SUN.

He did concede that the exit of India was going to have a real impact on the final outcome for Barbados.

"India has had the largest following of the World Cup. They made the largest request for tickets and accommodation," he said.

There was currently a flurry of activity within the tourism industry and Jemmott said part of the reason was that cancellations and bookings were happening at the same time.

"The real challenge is that it is happening at a phenomenal rate," he added.

He said, too, that while some visitors were extending their stay in Barbados, the cancellations far outnumbered these cases.

What also compounded this was that the majority of sponsorship for CWC had come out of India.

"There was a portion of rooms and tickets that were reserved for the sponsors," Jemmott said, noting that in all, it came to about 3 000 people.

"With the Indians making such an early exit, the sponsors are having some reconsiderations as to whether they will do the same level of hospitality or entertainment."

He reported that hoteliers were reporting a decline in bookings from last week when occupancy was 72 per cent for April; it had now slipped back below 70 per cent. Two weeks ago it was 68 per cent. He said the biggest void was between April 17 and 28.

But Jemmott said the BHTA and the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) were trying to step up campaigns and promotions overseas.

For example, he said, they had launched campaigns in Ireland, as the Irish, one of the surprises of the World Cup, would now play a Super 8 match in Barbados. If things had gone to plan, it would have been India playing Pakistan in the Super 8 at Kensington Oval, instead it's now Bangladesh playing the Irish.

In addition, more promotions were running in North America.

Jemmott said they had also turned to the Internet to capture the attention of those in chat rooms, or other websites, where banners had been placed with links into Barbados sites.

April action

The two entities were also trying to capitalise on all the activities that would be going on in Barbados in April.

"We will be pushing all these activities. Never A Dull Moment – this is the tag line," he said.

"This is perhaps the most exciting period in the history of Barbados. There are so many shows, with the Reggae Festival, polo and Bill Cosby coming in – there is so much to do in Barbados. This is as fascinating as Crop-Over," he said.

He also gave the assurance that the things the BHTA and BTA could make happen, would happen.