ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. has announced that it will partner with Sponsors in showcasing the Event brand in India later this month.
Addressing a gathering of primarily Indian media in Kingston, Jamaica on Monday (July 3), ICC CWC 2007 Managing Director & CEO, Chris Dehring, revealed that he and other ICC CWC 2007 executives will participate in an event being held by the tournament’s Official Global Partners – LG Electronics, Pepsi, Hutch and Hero Honda – in New Delhi on Thursday July 27, 2006.
India, he stressed, is an extremely important market to ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in multiple respects: as incumbent host of the next Cricket World Cup, as home to the largest television audience in world sport and as the base for the tournament’s four Official Global Partners and two of the Official Sponsors.
“There is therefore a very strong link between the Cricket World Cup – international cricket in general – and India. To show our commitment to strengthening this relationship, Cricket World Cup executives will participate in this event which will highlight the Cricket World Cup brand in India and offer a taste of what fans can expect in the Caribbean next year,” Dehring explained.
“It will also allow us to express support for the tournament’s commercial partners who have a vested interest in Cricket World Cup.”
Speaking to the media at ICC CWC WI 2007 Inc. headquarters as Cricket World Cup organisers marked 250 days until the Opening Ceremony, Commercial Manager of ICC CWC 2007 Stephen Price noted that “Indian interest” extended to that country’s massive fan base.
In his update on Public Ticketing – now in the third and final month of the Application Phase – he disclosed that India has, so far, recorded the seventh-highest number of applications. At the end of June 2006, there were applications from 114 countries with the top ten being: the UK, USA, Barbados, Australia, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, India, Canada, South Africa and Guyana respectively.
Price also told the media that there have been more than a thousand applications for Follow A Path packages from India fans. This is the most by fans of any of the 16 Participating Nations for such packages which would allow them to follow their team – in this case India – from Group Stage matches right up to the Final, if the said team advances that far. Other teams for which Follow A Path packages are in demand are Australia and England.
“Additionally, a significant number of applications have been received for matches that would feature the Indian team should they advance to the Super 8 stage – or second round – of the Cricket World Cup,” he continued.
“This is borne out by the high volume of applications for Venue Combinations (that’s where a fan can get tickets for all the matches at a particular stadium) for Kensington Oval in Barbados and the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua – both venues at which India would play Super 8 matches if they qualify from the Group Stage.
Overall, there continues to be a steady flow of applications but as we come into the home stretch of the Application Phase we expect to see another surge – reminiscent of that which occurred at the start of Public Ticketing – in online traffic and at Ticket Centres across the Caribbean.”
The Event’s Commercial Manager also cited pronounced demand for Hospitality packages – where fans can acquire tickets with a Hospitality component – from the Indian fan base.
The tournament’s Official Hospitality Services Provider – Cricket Hospitality 2007 – recently stated that Hospitality packages for the Barbados Super 8 matches in which India would play, if they qualify, are selling very well.
“Across the Host Venues, the demand for Suites – or corporate boxes as they are more familiarly known in the Caribbean – has also exceeded all expectations and currently outstrips supply in several locations,” said Price.
He added that there are five Official Travel Agents (OTAs) in India; another indication of the interest of Indian cricket fans in the tournament. OTAs, he reminded, are the only travel entities which are authorised to sell Tour & Travel packages, inclusive of match tickets, to ICC CWC 2007.
Listing the following – Air Cruise Travels Pvt Ltd, Friends Globe Travels Ltd, Pyramid Travels, SOTC Sports Abroad and Trust Travel & Tours – as the Indian OTAs, he reiterated that fans should only buy packages from these companies.
“Otherwise they risk being denied entry into Cricket World Cup matches when they reach the Caribbean,” cautioned Price.
