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God's own cricket country

With English travellers set to descend on the city for the April 6 ODI, cricket tourism takes wings. K. Pradeep surveys the scene

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Heritage, history and a huge slice of God's Own Country are Kochi's brand images. A melting pot of diverse cultures, its vibrant history and splendours of Nature have been Kochi's USP all these years. These and many other new brands keep competing for attention. In the bargain the tour operators and travel agents keep coming up with the same brands packages under different labels.

Latest brand

A new, well-defined, unique brand personality that is fast emerging, one that is certainly bound to give the tourism sector a big shot in the arm is cricket. Cricket Tourism is Kochi's latest brand.

The trickle of tourists, that began with the arrival of South Africa, the first international side to play in the city, has turned into a torrent this time. And when England plays India at the magnificent Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium there will a huge crowd from Blighty to cheer their side.

For them there will be no better place to tear off their shirts and get a fine suntan than a cricket ground in the peak of summer. Of course, they will also take time cricket to take a cruise along the serene backwaters or walk through the antiquated streets of Kochi's heritage zones.

"The enquiries about the match and Kochi began pouring in even before we had begun preparations in earnest. By now we must have got confirmation for around 500 tickets through e-mail. We have replied to every one of them asking them to contact our office at the stadium in Kochi after March 26. These are direct enquiries; there must be a lot more with travel agents and tour operators," informs T. C. Mathew, honorary secretary, Kerala Cricket Association.

Cashing in on cricket's newfound image is Great Mystic Tours, who have created a special package aptly called Fusion, blending cricket with tourism. "We were a bit late in wooing tourists from Europe, especially England. If we had at least three months to do some groundwork we are sure to have brought in around 4,000 tourists. Despite this we have got a very encouraging response. In our package cricket becomes a special event. We have booked two stands exclusively for our guests, which will be provided with television, a cheering group, `singarimelam,' food from our own caterers, special security at the stands and a lot more facilities aimed to make it an unforgettable experience.

Performimg arts

Majority of them are from England, while we have also got some bookings from Dubai. Outside cricket, these guests will get a feel of Kerala's performing arts, our culture, through special programmes that we have planned for them. This apart, they will be taken on a backwater cruise and a bit of sight seeing. Some of them have clubbed Goa, where the teams play before Kochi. We have made a different package for them. They will be staying in air-conditioned tents on beaches, which is after all what Goa is all about. The English tourists are quite fussy about how they are looked after and for us it will be a big test," says Kartik Varma, General Manager, Great Mystic Tours.

There has always been a flow of tourists when a cricket match is played in Kochi. The difference this time is that there is a lot of bulk bookings and also extension from the other centres where matches were played. Varkey Kurian, manager, Clipper Holidays, who will have a small group of tourists from U. K. for the England one-dayer has his fingers crossed.

"So far everything is quite good. Last time, when Pakistan played here there was some sort of confusion with regard to tickets and facilities for the tourists. But this time we have been assured of all assistance. Cricket can surely be a good add-on event to any tour of Kochi. But a lot depends on the response of our guests after the match. If it is positive we will surely think of including cricket in our regular packages."

Last time the Aussies toured India they played a Test match in Chennai. A small group of tourists that included former batsman Mark Waugh flew down to Kochi. "That was not part of a cricket package. But this time we have a lot of English tourists who have scheduled their tour with the ongoing cricket series. For the third Test in Mumbai we had six groups watching the game. In Kochi, this time, we expect a small group of around 20-25 people to come. The final status will be known only by the end of March. We have made the hotel bookings and other orders. Cricket has tremendous tourism potential. The only other game that can come anywhere near it is golf. But unfortunately in Kochi we do not have facilities for it," says Sanjeev Kumar, Manager, Inbound Tours (South India), Travel Corporation of India.

Great scope

For the time being cricket tourism is limited to the international matches that is played in the city. Maybe the next step would be to dangle cricket as a bait to attract more tourists to Kochi.

"Certainly this is possible. Every year we have at least one or two teams visiting Kochi, like this year we had the I Zingari from England. This can surely be regularised with more PR, consistent advertising and promotion. Of late cricket is gaining popularity in Thailand. They have clubs there and we are exploring the possibility of sending teams from here and also bringing them here to play a few games," adds Mr. Varma.

Proposal for stadium

The Kerala Cricket Association is also doing its bit to augment the tourism potential of the game.

"We have put up a suggestion for a stadium in the 400-acre land available with the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) for the development of tourism and commercial infrastructure. In fact, we have spoken about this to the managing director of CIAL about his. Golf is already there in their plan and cricket can be an added facility," informs Mr. Mathew.

Cricket tourism has made a good start and looks set for a long, good innings in Kochi.

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