Analysis: Opposition Senator Questions Justification of $50 Million Government Spend on Hosting ICC Men's T20 World Cup Amidst Stable Visitor Arrivals

Government’s $50 million spend on the hosting of the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup was not justified based on visitor arrivals for June.

This is the view of Opposition Senator Ryan Walters, who contends that the visitor arrival numbers for June, when the event was staged, were by no means head and shoulders above previous years for the same period.

Speaking during a press conference at the Opposition Office yesterday, Walters said that the returns for monies invested indicated that the endeavour was “a failure”.

“It was projected that just over 40 000 visitors would be on island in June. However, in 2016 a total of 42 565 persons visited Barbados in June and there was no ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The following year, 44 954 persons visited these shores in June and there was no ICC T20 World Cup. In 2018 there were 43 684 persons on the island and there was no World Cup and in 2019 there were 50 160 visitors and there was no World Cup,” Walters said.

He lamented: “We did not have to spend $50 million in any of these years to get the number of visitors we got.

A projection of 40 000 visitors in June is a failure and cricket cannot be touted as a success of visitor arrivals in this country.”

The Opposition Senator charged that the ruling administration failed to devise a sustainable strategy for attracting visitors to Barbados, arguing that the tourism sector was yet to fully bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. He also charged that the monies spent on the upgrade of Kensington Oval, where some of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup matches and the final were held, had not been properly accounted for, noting that there were a number of critical infrastructures on which these monies could have been better spent.

“The problem that this country faces is that this Government has been unable to attract tourists to our country since COVID. We are still way below in visitor arrivals when all of the other territories have surpassed their pre-COVID numbers. We are struggling to get it right and the facts are there. That $50 million would have been well spent in other areas, especially now that we have to deal with compensation, especially now that we still have to deal with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and school infrastructure,” Walters said.

The decision on the spending was a failed one, Walters said. “The Government of Barbados did not make revenue from this exercise, we did not have any tax intake from the ticket sales, from the importation of goods for resale,” the senator pointed out.