By Dawne Bennett
Caribbean Net News Barbados Correspondent
Email: dawne@caribbeannetnews.com
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Barbados expeting visitor arrivals to improve: this despite complaints from other regional countries that they're not getting the expected increases for Cricket World Cup.
Barbados' Tourism Minister, Noel Lynch is insisting that despite the much anticipated increase in visitor arrivals for the Cricket World Cup not yet materialising, there is no need to panic.
He says Barbados will benefit substantially as the season progresses and in fact, may do better than some of its regional neighbours.
Lynch has admitted that the number of floating hotels - cruise ships which will dock in the port to provide accommodation for the week of the World Cup finals - has dropped from 13 to 10 ships because some lines were not able to sell enough packages.
Lynch said the ships are now likely to contribute 75,000 rather than the 100,000 visitors originally estimated, for the day of the finals.
But he insisted the country can still expect the 25 to 30 thousand projected extra visitors.
He says in total, at least 90,000 visitors will be in the country for the week of the April 28 finals.
"There is no reason for panic. Barbados still stands to benefit substantially both in the short term and in the long term," Lynch said. "I may even be bold and say of all the territories involved in this event, because of the way in which the event is structured, because of the timing of the event, and because of the fact that we're hosting the finals, I believe Barbados may stand to benefit more maybe than some of our neighbours."
But the Tourism Minister's assertions and the figures have been challenged by well-known hotelier, Adrian Loveridge who said from his on-the-ground assessment of the situation, it offers little hope for tourism players.
"To recoup the cost of what is appearing to be a disastrous four or five weeks leading up to the event, has to have a consequence for somebody," he argued. "If you take away the income of high season of a quarter or more you have to think of the financial consequences of that on the industry."
Loveridge, owner of the Peach and Quiet Hotel on the South Coast of the island, also dismissed suggestions that he was merely speculating.
Saying that he had seen flights on major airlines with large capacity coming in with small passenger loads, he contended: "I'm not speculating on 200 seats or a two-thirds empty plane."
The hotelier has suggested that Lynch's figures are inflated and are not a realistic expectation of the visitor arrivals. | 
