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Sports and Tourism ministers from across the Caribbean as well as airline and transportation-industry executives will be among those attending next week’s Access: Transportation and Frontier Facilitation Forum being hosted by ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. in Antigua.

The July 18-19 meeting will shine the spotlight on the region’s transportation operations and networks and assess what must be done for this sector to be fully ready for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup for which thousands of visitors are expected.

As the next world-games event – following the FIFA World Cup – organisers will seize the opportunity to learn from the recent football extravaganza in Germany which some ICC CWC WI 2007 Inc. officials attended. Therefore, one of the features will be a joint presentation by ICC CWC 2007 Managing Director & CEO, Chris Dehring, and ICC CWC 2007 Event Director, Nigel Rushman, on their FIFA World Cup experiences, entitled “Lessons and Insights from FIFA World Cup”.

“We want to engage regional stakeholders in dialogue and information-sharing about the demands that will be placed on all aspects of the transportation infrastructure and examine the state of preparedness – across the sector – for this Event,” explained ICC CWC 2007 Visitor Experience Manager, Cliff Hamilton.

“It will also be critical to look at our border controls and service delivery for tournament time; the latter is an area that could single-handedly determine how visitors remember their experience in the Caribbean.”

There will be various presentations on “demand-side issues” such as the projected number of visitors and the trends in ticket sales and package tours. The challenges and opportunities associated with ground and sea transport will also be highlighted. Regional and international airline CEOs will discuss their role and the challenges in facilitating the movement of visitors and regional spectators during the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Director of CARICOM’s Agency for Crime & Security, Lance Selman, will speak on “The CARICOM Visa and Other Frontier Formalities” while veteran international cricket journalist and broadcaster, Tony Cozier, addresses “Travelling the Region from an International Media Perspective”. Other topics include “Cruise Ships as an Accommodation and Transportation Resource during ICC CWC 2007” and “Moving Visitors and Spectators to and from Airports and Stadiums”.

“At the end of the forum we want to have a comprehensive picture of the Caribbean’s transportation structure. We want to know exactly what needs to be done – as well as how it must be done – to ensure that all those who travel throughout the Host Venues during the tournament do so in an efficient manner; one that is in keeping with world-class standards,” said Hamilton.

Access: Transportation and Frontier Facilitation Forum will be held at Grand Royal Antiguan Hotel, starting at 7.30 a.m. each day.

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The Barbados Local Organising Committee’s (LOC) volunteer training programme is well underway.

Barbados’ Volunteer Programme for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 has attracted 1800 persons of several nationalities, who live in Barbados.

The Barbados Vocational Training Board (BVTB) developed an excellent training manual which includes an LOC/CWC Overview and six modules dealing with Cricket World Cup and event specific topics.

The topics are:
Volunteerism
A world class image
Barbadian hospitality
Many faces from different places
Communicating effectively
Working with people

Training sessions occur on Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and four corporate entities have kindly provided the use of their training facilities.

They are the National Insurance Scheme, First Caribbean Bank, Cable & Wireless and the CLR James Sports Centre of at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill.

Leroy Smith is the Local Organising Committee’s Volunteer Coordinator and he says as many as 120 persons go through the orientation and training every Saturday.

“Four sessions have been held to date and more than 300 volunteers have benefited from the training,” he added.

“The training will continue until all registered volunteers have gone through the orientation. Following this there will be further event specific training that ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Inc. will conduct for the volunteers they select.”

The Partners in Excellence Advisory Team (PIEAT) headed by Paul Ashby, oversees the qualitative execution of the programme and very experienced facilitators who have all undergone the BVTB’s ‘Train the Trainers’ courses, ably assist him.

At the launch of the programme, Ashby said: “We’re confident that it’s well thought out and excited that we are able to provide every individual, expressing an interest in being a part of our volunteer pool, with a chance to be exposed to this high quality training experience.”

Kerrigan Roach is the LOC’s Human Resources Manager and he has hailed the level of support and interest expressed by the many persons who have registered for training as pleasing and encouraging.

However, he wants the prospective volunteers to be mindful of the fact that since they have stepped up for training, they must now follow through.

“Persons who sign up for training need to make every effort to show up to the sessions and be punctual since we are using attendance and punctuality as part of the criteria for final volunteer selection,” he said.

The Barbados LOC provides valuable administrative and technical support in project execution.

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Surrey County Cricket Club has announced today that over £250,000 was raised in last Monday’s Pakistan Charity Match at the Brit Insurance Oval that saw Pakistan play an International XI.

Despite rain marring the start of the event, reducing the game to ten overs a side, over 20,000 people were present to witness some of the world’s best cricketers on display in a match that went right down to the last ball. Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were all in blistering form with the bat but it was Pakistan who eventually stole the show by reaching the required target off the very last ball.

The Club’s major sponsors, Brit Insurance donated £100,000 of the money raised, which will go towards helping those affected by the disaster that struck Pakistan last October.

Dane Douetil, Chief Executive of Brit Insurance, said, “To have raised over a quarter of a million pounds for the President’s Earthquake Relief Fund is a remarkable accomplishment and further evidence of what can be achieved when the cricket community pulls together in support such worthy causes. To have attracted a crowd of over 20,000 to the Brit Insurance Oval was a tremendous effort and the players, public and media should be applauded for their valuable support”.

He added, “As match sponsor, Brit Insurance is extremely proud to have played a significant part in the overall fundraising effort and hope that the monies raised will make a major difference to the lives of many people affected by the catastrophic events in northern Pakistan last October.”

Paul Sheldon, Surrey Chief Executive added, “Brit Insurance’s generous sponsorship of the Pakistan Charity Twenty20 match made a significant impact on our fund raising efforts. We are deeply grateful to some of the world’s greatest stars for making themselves available. It was marvellous to have the ground packed with supporters cheering on their heroes.”

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