THE tourism sector in Guyana has been given a great boost with the decision by the HERO CPL for Guyana to host the finals for the next three years commencing this year. This will be the first time the CPL finals will be held in Guyana and cricket fans in Guyana simply cannot wait for the cricket action to commence.

To say that Guyanese are lovers of the game of cricket is to put it mildly. Guyanese are extremely passionate and ecstatic about the game as is being manifested when regional and international cricket is played in Guyana. The Providence Stadium momentarily is being transformed to an electrifying display of energy rarely seen, especially when the favourite side is performing to expectations.

President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, at the launch of the festival, was high in praise of the decision taken to have the games hosted in Guyana. According to President Ali, “Cricket is much more than a game for us in Guyana. It is a passion; part of our culture and a unifying force.”

As pointed out by the President, by hosting the games we are building a product that will be ‘spectator focused’ and one that is integrated with our regional partners for a global market.

Cricket Carnival, he said, is a fusion of entertainment and celebration that will be mind-blowing and unbelievably different from any other global cricketing event. The Guyanese leader took the opportunity to welcome all to the greatest celebration of music, pageantry, Caribbean vibes with a South American touch and of course cricket played loudest.

This is indeed a welcome development and will have a direct impact on the economic and social life of Guyana and the wider Caribbean. Cricket is a defining element of our Caribbean identity and we all are excited when our team does well in international cricket. At the same time we are not too shy to be critical of our players when they underperform, an indication of how serious we take our game.

This season Guyana will host seven group games, three knock out matches and the CPL final. The final match is the high point of the games, one that generates world-wide interest way beyond the boundaries of the Caribbean. It is estimated that total viewership over the past two seasons surpassed 500 million. The games, described as the biggest sporting event in the Caribbean has now become something of a regional sporting institution comparable to any other in the world.

The Guyana Government, in collaboration with the local private sector, will be taking full advantage of this opening to stage two weeks of events which will take the form of a cricket carnival. The carnival will highlight the best that the country has to offer and will showcase the music, food and culture of Guyana.

The fact is that sport tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world with a projected global value of US$7.6 billion. Sport tourism refers to travel which involves the participation by tourists in sporting events while at the same time enjoying other aspects of cultural life in the host country. One immediate benefit is an influx of visitors to the country and higher levels of spending which could be a major boost to the local economy.

The decision by HERO CPL to host the finals in Guyana could not have come at a better time as the country is now experiencing a period of economic and social transformation due in part to oil and gas but also to the emphasis placed by the PPP/C administration on sports and culture and the recreational and cultural life of the Guyanese people.

It also comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is showing indications of weakening. Guyanese for quite some time have been starved of top-of-the-line entertainment due to the pandemic. The hosting of the CPL finals in Guyana is a welcome development, one that would catapult Guyana as a regional powerhouse in terms of sports and culture.

President Ali and his PPP/C administration must be commended for raising the profile of Guyana not only in the area of sports and culture but also as an emerging economic giant in the Caribbean.