ICC Cricket World Cup 2007
ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 was held between 13th March and 28th April 2007. Matches were played in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, St Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Guyana, Grenada and Barbados.
Sixteen teams qualified for the Final Rounds. They were divided into four Groups with four teams in each group. Group matches took place in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, St Lucia and St Kitts & Nevis. Each team played every other team in the Group once with the top two teams in each Group qualifying for the Super Eight. All six matches in each Group took place in a single country. Matches were held every other day in each country. All four Groups played concurrently so there were two matches taking place in two different countries each day.
At the Super Eight stage, each qualifying team played the six teams which had qualified from the other three Groups. These matches took place in Antigua & Barbuda, Guyana, Grenada and Barbados (six matches in each). Only one Super Eight match took place on any one day. Each qualifying team played its Super Eight matches in at least three different countries. With a short break over Easter, these twenty four matches took twenty seven days.
In order to assist overseas fans with their travel arrangements, a seeding process was instituted so that if a team qualified from its Group, its Super Eight Schedule was fixed. In the event, of course, both India and Pakistan failed to qualify so a match which was billed as India v Pakistan in Barbados became Ireland v Bangladesh!
At the end of the Super Eight series, the top four teams qualified for the semi-Finals which were held in Jamaica and St Lucia. The two semi-Final winners played the Final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
To meet the demands of the ICC, the sponsors and the media for a global Tournament, every single ground had to be significantly upgraded. The grounds in Antigua & Barbuda and Guyana were totally new. The massive level of rebuilding at Sabina Park, Jamaica; Kensington Oval, Barbados and Grenada National Stadium, St Georges meant that these were essentially new grounds on the old site. Only Beausejour in St Lucia and Warner Park in St Kitts & Nevis were anywhere near the required standard two years before the Tournament started.
The Tender
The Commercial Hospitality Rights at ICC Cricket World Cup Tournaments are given to the Local Organisers, in this case ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. The headquarters of ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Inc. (ICC CWC 2007 Inc.) was in Jamaica. ICC CWC 2007 Inc. appointed International Management Group as consultants to assist with the commercial aspects of the Tournament. IMG managed the hospitality tender process which opened in January 2005.
The Official Hospitality Operator was required to devise, market, sell and deliver a variety of hospitality packages at all the matches in every country throughout the Tournament. The rights were exclusive and global. This involved appointing reputable sales agents in all the major cricket playing countries throughout the world and managing their activities throughout the lead up to the Tournament. The tender documents also invited applicants to submit proposals for managing the sponsors’ hospitality and the other VIP facilities throughout the Tournament.
With matches in eight different sovereign states each with different legal systems and in which there was absolutely no history of selling commercial hospitality at sporting events, this was undoubtedly the most complex and challenging Commercial Hospitality Programme ever contemplated. Indeed we know that some of our UK competitors did not tender because they felt that the project was felt to be, essentially, impossible!
Before the start of the tender process, Chris Bruton and Jim Bignal carried out an inspection tour of Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda and Jamaica to gain a better understanding of the event, countries and venues. At that time the location of the matches had not been decided but these four territories were extremely likely to host some matches.
They attended the West Indies v England Test Match at the Queens Park Oval and met with the CEO of ICC CWC 2007 Inc’ and members of the West Indies Cricket Board. They also met with officials of the various island Cricket Associations on their trip. This investment in time and money gave us an invaluable insight into the challenges presented by this event.
In the spring of 2005, Hospitality in Partnership (HiP) bid for the Commercial Hospitality appointment. HiP was short-listed; gave a presentation to representatives of IMG and ICC CWC 2007 Inc. and in July 2005 was announced as the “preferred bidder”. Detailed contract negotiations were quite protracted and the final contract was signed at the beginning of December 2005. HiP made a substantial financial guarantee to secure the contract.
We believe that a combination of the inspection trip in 2004 and our extensive experience in managing hospitality programmes at global sporting events played a large part in our selection.
Early ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Contact
Throughout this negotiating period, HiP personnel were fully involved with ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. They attended the Schedule Launch in Port of Spain, Trinidad in July and the Ticket Launch in Kingston, Jamaica in November.
They also attended three Venue Summit Meetings (in Grenada, Barbados and St Kitts & Nevis) to which all the stakeholders in the project were invited. These Venue Summits gave the leaders of the HiP team the opportunity to understand the challenges of the project as well as introduce them to the detailed plans of the grounds, the location of the hospitality villages and the key members of the Design Team and the leaders of the various Local Organising Committees.
Whilst ICC CWC 2007 Inc had its head office in Jamaica, each country had its own Local Organising Committee. These LOC personnel were generally paid by their country’s Government or Cricket Association which sometimes had different agendas from ICC CWC 2007 Inc.
Cricket Hospitality 2007
Hospitality in Partnership decided to set up its central office in Barbados which was hosting six theoretically very strong Super Eight matches and the Final. The choice was really between Jamaica where ICC CWC 2007 Inc had its head office and Barbados. We chose Barbados because it was within a short flight of most of the other countries which were hosting matches whereas Jamaica was a long flight from all the other seven territories.
Hospitality in Partnership registered Cricket Hospitality Ltd (CH07) as a limited company in Barbados in January 2006 and registered for Barbadian VAT. As it was delivering the hospitality in the different countries in which the matches took place, CH07 also had to set up Branches in the other territories which had VAT (or similar) regimes and register for these local taxes. Initially this meant Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago but in January 2007, Antigua & Barbuda also introduced VAT which entailed a late registration there.
The countries in which matches took place used five different currencies but the US dollar is widely accepted throughout the Caribbean. Fortunately ICC CWC 2007 Inc had decided to price the match tickets in US dollars and CH07 did the same for its hospitality packages.
The Hospitality in Partnership model for global sporting event hospitality is based on utilising the skills and experience of local companies and personnel as much as possible with HiP providing the central framework, control, understanding of the stakeholders’ requirements and experience to drive the project to a successful conclusion. This model has evolved through similar appointments at two previous Rugby World Cups and other similar events in the UK and Europe.
Caribbean Economic Enterprise Initiative
This model was integral to the HiP tender and had been mentioned in the presentations which we made on the inspection trip in 2004. Moreover one of the Schedules in the final contract was the Caribbean Economic Enterprise Initiative which required all contractors to ICC CWC 2007 to use as much local labour as possible as well as purchase as much as practicable locally. CH07 embraced this initiative from the beginning and throughout the build up to the Tournament.
A General Manager from the UK with experience from Rugby Hospitality 2003 in Australia was appointed and Chris Bruton was the Chief Executive of CH07. Thereafter all the central office staff – accounts, marketing and operations - were Caribbean nationals who were ultimately trained in global event management leaving an excellent legacy in the Caribbean.
Early Marketing Initiatives
HiP also started the critical central marketing and website design. We commissioned this design well before the final contract was signed and initiated the formal approval process with ICC CWC 2007 Inc. Hence when the contract was signed the www.crickethospitality2007.com went live within one week. This website was invaluable to our international communications strategy and had a link from the main www.cricketworldcup.com website.
Concurrently, we initiated the design of the main Cricket Hospitality 2007 brochure. This brochure was designed so that each Official Hospitality Sales Agent (OHSA) could have its own contact details over-printed. CH07 obtained the ICC CWC 2007 approval for the copy and design. CH07 also paid for all the design costs. The OHSA was only charged for the actual print costs of its own print run. CH07 identified a printing company in Barbados which delivered an excellent quality brochure.
The Hospitality Packages
All the matches at ICC CWC 2007 were day matches starting at 09.30 and finishing around 17.00. Day/night matches were not permitted as they would have been taking place in the middle of the night in the Indian sub-Continent which is by far the biggest market for cricket for the media.
The last overs of the first innings and the Power Play at the start of the second innings are frequently critical phases of One Day cricket matches. This poses a challenge for providers of hospitality in facilities not overlooking the pitch. The cricketers only have thirty minutes for the change of innings but by the time the hospitality guests have returned to their facility it is essentially impossible to serve any food and beverage before they need to return to their seats!
The CH07 team addressed this challenge in two ways. All hospitality guests were given a hearty Caribbean breakfast on arrival to set them up for the day. Customers then had the choice of the Enclosure Package or the Hamper Package.
The Enclosure Package did require them to return to the Hospitality Village between the innings when a light lunch was served as quickly as practicable. The main meal together with a Caribbean Party was provided after the match which allowed the guests to relax after a great day’s cricket.
The Hamper Package was designed for those not wanting to miss a single ball. After breakfast the guests were given a insulated Hamper which contained all their food and beverage for the day.
In Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, ICC CWC 2007 made facilities inside the grounds available to CH07 so in these countries we also offered a Grandstand Package which had the same content as the Enclosure Package but with the superior location. All these packages were approved by ICC CWC 2007 and went on sale in May 2006.
The Worldwide Network of Sales Agents
Concurrently the CHO7 team was assembling a team of Official Hospitality Sales Agents (OHSAs) both from the Caribbean and throughout the world. These OHSAs earned generous commissions on every hospitality sale which they made. Advertisements were placed in appropriate newspapers throughout the main cricketing nations. The website invited interested parties to contact the CH07 office.
Locally, the CH07 Chief Executive and General Manager set about persuading all the Local Organising Committees to become OHSAs. As in many stadia there was a significant allocation of Suites with a direct view of the pitch, we offered the rights to sell these Suites for an exclusive period to the LOCs, if they signed up as OHSAs. Some embraced this opportunity enthusiastically; others took a little more persuasion. In the event seven of the eight LOCs did become Sales Agents. The Barbados LOC was the most enthusiastic and by the end of the Tournament had earned over US $600k in commission on its hospitality sales – an important revenue earner for Barbados.
A number of Caribbean Travel Companies also applied for OHSA appointments. Four were eventually approved by CH07 and ICC CWC 2007 Inc.
Internationally we had sufficient applicants from reputable companies in England, India and Canada. Australia and South Africa were more challenging probably because of the difficulty and cost of travel from those territories to the Caribbean. We contacted an agent with whom we had worked on Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia and persuaded them to come to the table from the beginning. When sales started we did not have a South African agent but subsequently we did find one giving us a total of nineteen agents around the world.
Hospitality sales started in May 2006 and continued right up until the Tournament itself in March/April 2007. The CH07 marketing manager sent regular monthly eNewsletters to all the OHSAs around the world as well as assisting them with the lengthy approval process for their marketing collateral. After the Barbados LOC the most successful OHSA was one of the Indian agents.
Sponsors’ Hospitality
In 1999 ICC had sold all the commercial rights for its main Tournaments for eight years to Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) – a Rupert Murdoch owned company. GCC sold all the media rights and sponsorships throughout this period including, of course, ICC CWC 2007. In turn GCC contracted the sale of the sponsorship and all the sponsor liaison to Nimbus Sports International.
At ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 which was held in South Africa, Nimbus Sport International also managed all the sponsors’ hospitality in conjunction with Paragon Sports Management. They found this very challenging and for ICC CWC 2007, Nimbus Sport International approached CH07. After some discussions Nimbus appointed CH07 to fulfil the management of all sponsors’ hospitality both in their Suites and in association with their additional tickets throughout the Tournament.
The President’s Suite
At every match throughout the Tournament and at the Opening Ceremony which was held two days before the opening match at a different venue in Jamaica, there was a VIP facility – the President’s Suite – which was used for entertaining local political dignitaries, senior ICC personnel, senior officials of the various Cricket Boards around the world and guests of the Local Organising Committee. CH07 had indicated in its tender that it would be comfortable organising these facilities and outlined its proposed charging structure. These were incorporated into the contract between ICC CWC 2007 Inc. and CH07.
Initially ICC CWC 2007 Inc. asked CH07 to carry out this work but some of the Local Organising Committees wanted to do it themselves. When we were well past the deadline which CH07 had set, we were asked at very short notice to organise the President’s Suite at the Opening Ceremony in Trelawny, all seven matches at Sabina Park Jamaica and all seven matches at Beausejour, St Lucia. At the Final in Barbados, CH07 was given just six days’ notice to organise an overflow facility for one hundred extra ICC CWC 2007 Inc guests! Flexibility is vital in the major event business.
Fulfilment
With the sales, marketing and financial arrangements established, the CH07 team
focused on the complex challenge of delivering all the hospitality which it was selling at all the forty eight matches throughout the Tournament. The main Critical Path was drawn up and the responsibility for all the key tasks assigned amongst the Chief Executive, General Manager and Operations Manager. Similarly each senior member of the CH07 team took overall responsibility for certain countries: Chief Executive – Barbados and St Lucia; General Manager – Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana and Grenada; Operations Manager – Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis and Jamaica.
The main elements of the fulfilment process are:
Temporary Structures for the Hospitality Villages
Design and Theming of the Hospitality Villages
Landscaping of the Hospitality Villages
Signage
Food and Beverage
Napery
Gifts
Event Day Staff
Uniforms
Operational Print
Temporary Structures
At an early stage in the planning process, ICC CWC 2007 Inc. announced that it had appointed GL Events, a French-owned global events company based in Lyons, as the Official Supplier of temporary structures. This appointment meant that CH07 had to use GL structures unless we could demonstrate that there was comparable local product available at a cheaper price.
GL Events prices were very robust and well ahead of the CH07 budgeted costs. Nevertheless in most countries there was insufficient quality tentage so we had no real choice. However in Barbados where our requirements were greatest, there were two local companies who had tendered for the main appointment. CH07 obtained tenders from both these suppliers which showed significant savings from the GL quotation.
After nearly three months of negotiation the CH07 team got the GL prices down to the local Barbados supplier and also secured these same lower prices in every territory. As GL was the main contractor for all the other temporary structures in every territory, this obviously made all the logistics run more smoothly. The GL Events Design Team also tendered and secured all the CH07 Hospitality Village Design and Landscaping work.
In the event the GL team were excellent and all the CH07 staff enjoyed first class working relationships on the ground with GL staff which is vital for the successful delivery of a complex programme of this nature.
Food and Beverage
In the early months of 2006, ICC CWC 2007 Inc was proposing to appoint the Local Organising Committee in each country as the official catering licensee in their territory with the right to sub-license these rights to reputable local caterers. The CH07 Chief Executive attended a meeting of the CEOs of the LOCs with the Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer of ICC CWC 2007 Inc. where this plan was discussed in some detail. CH07 was totally supportive of this approach and initiated discussions with the LOCs requesting an involvement with these local catering appointments.
Unfortunately, perhaps as a result of some of the tensions mentioned above, in May 2006, ICC CWC 2007 Inc dropped this plan and published a tender for an Overall Catering Solutions Provider for the entire Tournament. CH07 was shown all the tenders and indicated in writing that, in its view, none of them had demonstrated the necessary level of high-end catering experience and recommended the original LOC model. Nevertheless a single Catering Solutions Provider (CPS) was appointed. CH07 had no option but to negotiate a contract with the CPS but with no bargaining position when discussing prices.
It also transpired that in most of the territories the CPS was unable to deliver all of the catering required for VIPs, sponsors, hospitality and the public so ended up sub-licensing it locally.
In addition, the CPS carried out this process on its own with no input from CH07 despite expressed concerns from CH07. All communication with the actual caterers was via the CPS and, regrettably, the CPS did not even pass on important details, despite repeated requests, of the contract between CH07 and the CPS concerning menu content and menu choices. Unfortunately, the scale of the problem only became clear when the site meetings with the catering personnel were held on the build up days in each territory (see below).
Menus were suggested and refined. Menu tastings took place in Barbados in January 2007 and the final menus agreed in February about one month before the first match.
Napery
Although it is standard practice in most countries for the caterer to provide the table cloths and napkins, this was not the case in the Caribbean or certainly not with the appointed CPS. CH07 thus faced a further challenge of sourcing these requirements in every territory.
Suitable companies which hired out napery were identified in six of the countries but in Grenada and St Kitts & Nevis we were unable to find anyone to provide this service. CH07, therefore, purchased the items locally itself and arranged laundry locally to ensure that clean fresh items were available at every match.
Gifts
As in all similar major international sporting events, ICC CWC 2007 Inc. appointed an Official Licensing and Merchandising Agent to control official merchandise by appointing official merchandise suppliers. CH07 was obliged to use one or more of these suppliers. Although closer to the Tournament, there were a few Caribbean suppliers none of them was appointed early enough or could supply the volume required to meet CH07’s requirements.
We therefore worked with The Promotions Factory, an Australian-based company. Naturally all the goods were actually manufactured in China. Sea freight, which is essential to keep costs manageable, from China to the Caribbean takes several weeks and as all the gifts contained the ICC CWC 2007 Event Mark necessitating ICC CWC 2007 Inc approval, early decisions were required. Indeed all orders were confirmed in October 2006.
In an attempt to avoid guests attending more than one match getting too many of the same gift we decided to have two gifts for all Group and Super Eight matches alternating in each territory – a radio or a pair of binoculars. There was a separate gift for the Semi-Finals and a unique gift for the Final.
Even one of the Operational Print items – a lanyard with a transparent pouch (to hold the access pass) was also not available locally. Fortunately The Promotions Factory was also able to supply these.
Experienced Event Day Management
Whilst the vast majority of the event day staff were recruited locally (see below) it was also essential to have at least one Event Manager with global sporting event hospitality experience in every major facility in every ground on every match day. Here the HiP involvement at several previous global events as well as many years of the full season in the UK were invaluable as we knew many people in the UK with the necessary experience. We appointed the team as early as October 2006 to ensure that we secured the services of personnel of the necessary caliber and experience.
As the pattern of sales became clear, we determined that we needed eight people. About three months before the event we worked out in detail who would be where and at what matches. Using our close contacts with Gullivers Sports Travel (the officially appointed travel company) all the flights and accommodation were then secured.
During a visit to the UK in November 2006, the Chief Executive held a full day’s briefing session with this team of eight. All the necessary accreditation documentation was completed. Three of them came to the Caribbean in January 2007 to tour their territories to ensure that when the Tournament started we had someone in every country who was familiar with the ground and the facilities. This experienced team played a vital part of the success of the entire fulfilment process.
Match Day Staff
Besides these senior experienced personnel, we also needed additional hosts and hostesses at every match to meet and greet the guests, show them to their tables. distribute the gifts and match programmes and generally ensure the smooth running of the event. In Barbados, Jamaica, St Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago there was a number of agencies able to provide this type of staff. After a tender process one of these agents was appointed in these territories.
In Antigua & Barbuda, Guyana and St Kitts & Nevis there was a Hospitality Training Institute. The CH07 Chief Executive and Operations Manager visited these Institutes, made presentations, interviewed candidates and subsequently appointed the necessary staff. In Antigua & Barbuda the Institute gave the Tournament official status as a component of its Hospitality Management course so the CH07 Senior Event Manager graded each student who worked for CH07. This assessment formed part of the student’s final diploma.
Neither of these approaches was possible in Grenada so, in conjunction with the LOC, CH07 advertised and recruited its hostesses directly. This was very time consuming but was the only available option.
Uniforms
Both the event managers and the hostesses needed appropriate uniforms. The Event Manager uniform was particularly difficult as it required an element of formality but also had to be comfortable for a long hot day. Whilst there are many hospitality apparel suppliers in the UK, their products are hardly suitable for the Caribbean climate! On the other hand within the Caribbean very little formal clothing was available.
Eventually we commissioned a local Bajan seamstress, to make three uniforms for each of the eight event managers. The Senior Event Manager chose the perfect fabric locally in early January. Naturally she also knew the exact sizes of her team! The seamstress was delighted with one of her biggest ever orders and the uniforms were delivered three weeks before the Tournament started. This was a magnificent example of the Caribbean Economic Enterprise Initiative in operation.
We had also identified a Bajan supplier of polo shirts early in 2006 for the CH07 core staff. For the hosts and hostesses we asked them to wear their own black trousers and provided a yellow CH07 polo shirt. Once again this order for over 250 shirts was one of the largest which the company had ever supplied.
Operational Print
CH07 approached its local printer to discuss the design, print and assembly of all the wallets, maps with transport information, access passes and itineraries required for the entire Tournament. Although for obvious reasons they had never undertaken a project of this nature, they were up to the challenge and submitted a great design. After a few minor modifications the design was approved by ICC CWC 2007 Inc and production began.
The same wallet was used for all packages with the access passes for the three different types of packages colour-coded to assist the staff at the event on the day. With forty eight matches at eight different grounds, this meant that we had twenty six different maps as well as one hundred and eighty five different itineraries and access passes. The print runs varied from only twenty for the least popular Group matches to over one thousand for the various popular packages for the Final.
Printing all these different documents in the most cost-effective way is a formidable challenge which the printer had not encountered before. Fortunately we had built a good professional relationship with the Bajan printer and shared what we had done in Australia for Rugby World Cup 2003. They were delighted to follow this approach and all the operational print was delivered on time in early February 2007.
Packing and Despatch
The 28,000 wallets were packed and despatched from the CH07 offices. One of the Event Managers came out to Barbados early to supervise this massive logistical operation.
Once again the vast majority of the work had been done locally. CH07 was delighted to be able to continue supporting the Caribbean Economic Enterprise Initiative.
Operations Manual
A detailed Operations Manual describing every element of every ground and every package in full detail is one of the most important components of project of this nature. For this reason the Chief Executive oversaw all aspects of its production. An early draft was given to the Event Managers at the November briefing.
It was completed over the next three months. Appropriate parts were circulated to all stakeholders in the fulfilment process, particularly the local hosts and hostesses who were unfamiliar with this type of event.
Match Tickets
In accordance with deadline set by ICC CWC 2007 Inc, CH07 placed its main ticket order in early December 2006. At that time we were informed that the tickets would be delivered in the middle of January 2007.
Unfortunately this date was put back twice and in the event we did not receive our tickets until 18th February less than a month before the first match. This challenge was exacerbated by the fact that the tickets were delivered unsorted. The same box contained tickets to different matches and in some cases in different grounds. It was almost as if they had been shuffled!
Fortunately two more of the Event Managers were free and came out to Barbados within three days. They worked round the clock to sort the tickets ground by ground, match by match, suite by suite, row by row so that we could start the despatch operation.
Itinerary Despatch
CH07 had negotiated a great deal with the local FedEx office in Barbados whereby it had its own FedEx terminal which printed all the necessary labels and custom documentation in the CH07 office. Each day Fedex collected parcels from the CH07 offices. We were also able to follow their progress on line. We got to know the local driver very well over the next six weeks!
The CH07 team then worked systematically through the Tournament despatching itineraries and tickets. In Barbados we also offered hotel deliveries to clients who were unable to get to our office or the LOC ticket centre.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2007
The eight Event Managers arrived in Barbados on 8th March. On 9th March they all collected their accreditation in Barbados and attended a further day’s training when they were also given the completed Operations Manual. On 10th March they left for their respective Group match countries to ensure that all our 28,000 guests received the hospitality which they had purchased.
The senior CH07 staff also went to their various countries to oversee and support the entire fulfilment process. The day before the first match in each country meetings were held with the CPS, all the sub-contracted caterers, the hosts and hostesses and the LOC staff. Some of the issues mentioned above surfaced at these meetings but the experienced teams addressed them and worked through them.
The CH07 teams moved from country to country exactly as planned. As we anticipated, each new country was a new learning curve but everything ran more and more smoothly as the Tournament progressed.
Antigua & Barbuda presented a particular challenge. Some temporary “Suites” were not of the required standard. Fortunately, through our close contact with Nimbus, we were able to use some of the unused sponsors’ boxes for our guests.
The team returned to Barbados for the Final on 28th April when we had guests in Suites in ten different facilities throughout the ground. Despite the huge numbers of guests and the usual unexpected challenges the day passed off extremely well. A tired but elated team met for a post-event drink in St Lawrence Gap that evening.
In the event over 28,000 hospitality packages were delivered. In Barbados with a population of just 275,000 over 8,000 packages (ca 2.5%) were sold locally. That is equivalent to 1.5 million guests attending an event in the UK.
Summary and Testimonials
Hospitality in Partnership delivered not the largest but indubitably the most challenging and most complex hospitality programme ever at ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. HiP embraced the Caribbean Economic Enterprise Initiative, trained local personnel, placed as many contracts locally as possible and left a genuine legacy for the future.
We received a number of positive comments but space only permits two:
On behalf of Nimbus Sport and more specifically the Nimbus Sport Events Team, I would like to thank you and your team for your contribution to making the CWC 2007 a success for the sponsors.
From the early planning stages until the last ball was played, Nimbus Sport and Cricket Hospitality 2007 worked together in a real spirit of partnership to deliver the best hospitality programmes to the sponsors. Your team on the ground did a fantastic job in difficult conditions and sponsor feedback was overall very good.
Thomas Lavenant
Nimbus Sport International
“Without a doubt the Cricket Hospitality Team has been the most professional, the easiest to work with and the most friendly stakeholder in the Tournament that I have had the pleasure to work with.
I will forever cherish the forthright and responsive manner in which you conducted your affairs and the professionalism and fairness with which the issues were dealt with.
From the moment we met in St. Kitts in September 2005 the foundation was laid for a great working relationship with a reputable company experienced in its business and you did not disappoint. Along the way the entire admin team, Chris, Tom, Sarah, Karen, Kelicia and Kelly won a special place in my heart”
Joseph Benfield
Chief Financial Officer
World Cup Barbados 2007
The project won the International Sports Event Management Award for 2007 and the British Expertise, Sport, Leisure and Tourism Award for 2007/08.
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