Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

Grand Bahama, The Bahamas:

Barbados will have 14 cruise ships docked in its port, six of which will be permanently berthed as floating hotels, during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, says that country's Minister of Tourism, Noel Lynch.

The eastern Caribbean island, which will host the World Cup finals in April 2007, has secured the cruise ships to complement its existing 8,000-room stock.

Minister Lynch was speaking at a press briefing at the start of the Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-29) being held in Freeport, Grand Bahama, in The Bahamas from October 20-25.

"We are expecting about 20,000 fans for the finals. Of that number, our ports will accommodate some 12,000 and the land-based entities the other 8,000 people," he told The Gleaner.

According to the minister, the ship accommodation was sold out immediately to the Asian market, "The Indians, particularly, have eaten up all of the rooms," he said.

Extremely encouraging

He said that strategically, his country has targeted the diaspora, and the tremendous results coming from the non-traditional market are extremely encouraging. Barbados now gets 70 per cent of its visitors from the United Kingdom and Europe, with 28 per cent from the United States.

Noting that for the development of his country to continue on a positive path it was fundamentally important to tap into the Indian, Chinese and South American markets, he said the World Cup was being used as the catalyst.

"We are not going to continue to look at just the Atlantic and North America, but for the future we will be expanding our reach to include these new markets," he added.

He told the large gathering that his government was spending US$150 million on major infrastructure work, moving towards a basis for global standards.

"When cricket fans arrive in Barbados, they will see a new-looking Kensington Oval, and major infrastructure work showcasing Barbados as a seriously developing nation on the cusp of being developed," he said.

He said the work will include air and seaports and highways.