Patriotism, national pride and excitement ran high as thousands of Guyanese flocked the Guyana National Stadium at Providence to be part of four exciting Hero Caribbean Premier League home matches which will no doubt have a continuing redounding positive impact on the country’s overall economic and tourism development.
It must be stated from the outset that the Hero CPL managed to also unify a very much divided Guyana as persons from all sections of society regardless of their race, creed, sexual orientation and political persuasion rallied behind the so far triumphant Guyana Amazon Warriors.
So high was the amount of unity and cohesiveness during the past three weeks that it is widely believed that the tournament stood out as one of the clear examples of avenues that could be used to push the Government’s social cohesion agenda by the utilisation of sport as a mechanism to bridge social and racial gaps that exist in our society.
It was this unity and display of cohesiveness that has no doubt motivated and inspired the good performances delivered by the players and organisers of the 2016 tournament thus far. While Guyana would have again lost its bid to host the finals of the game, Providence remains one of the most talked about, hyped and packed venues when compared to the others in the league as far as hosting international cricket events and CPL matches are concerned.
Also, the Hero CPL games came to Guyana at a time when there has been a notable slowdown in domestic trade and business. Interestingly, the tournament came to the country at a time too when small businesses were struggling to catch their hands because of various factors which were working against them while depleting their expected levels of revenues and profitability.
It therefore provided these small businesses with an opportunity to maximum their profits through sale of small portions of confectionaries near the stadium and at other Hero CPL-associated parties and events. It provided those who signed up officially for the bread and breakfast initiative with another means of garnering revenue because scores of overseas-based Guyanese returned home while there was an increase in tourist arrivals for the matches here.
Larger scale businesses and companies also benefited tremendously from the hosting of CPL matches here and while many of them would have maximised the marketing opportunities available via the tournament to boost sales and achieve brand popularity, others settled for just mounting promotions to give back to their loyal customers by providing them opportunities to join the biggest party in sport.
The Hero CPL also saw the occupancy rates at local hotels, bars, sports clubs, and community shops who had access to the televised games broadcast significantly boosted as well as their profitability.
The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change Government’s endorsement of the event and the laudable involvement of key ministers and personnel in handing out of awards and participation in local Hero CPL events demonstrates their commitment to the development of sport, the success of the Guyana Amazon Warriors and the upwards movement of the direct and indirect benefits to the country’s young tourism sector because of market access and promotional opportunities for Destination Guyana.
Research shows that the Guyana economy leads others in the league as far as the benefits it accrues from the injection of millions of US dollars each year it hosts the tournament, leaving out the other noteworthy indirect benefits.
As such more companies should get on-board the league by entering into mutual and lucrative deals with the Guyana Franchise owners and providing various forms of endorsement and sponsorship for the Amazon Warriors whenever allowed and applicable according to the existing rules and agreement framework.
Secondly, the Government led by its Education, Tourism and Business ministries must do much more to press the owners of the Hero CPL and the regional organisers to bring the semifinals and finals to Guyana even if it means investing more resources and incentives for this to happen.
The truth is, Guyana is a cricket-starved nation and the Hero CPL provides an opportunity for the hunger of cricket lovers and supporters to be satisfied; even if a lot of other regional and international matches are not brought as we would like to the country.
As the Warriors continue their bid for dominance in this year’s tournament, every Guyanese is duty bound to stand solidly behind the team and its franchise owners who have brought so much entertainment, cricket fun and countless opportunities for business to these shores over the last few years via their continued sponsorship and involvement in the league.
