If Sharjah has been the most happening cricket destinations for the previous generation, Abu Dhabi is the same for gen-x cricket watchers. Who can forget a young Ravi Shastri making a round of the picturesque Sharjah ground in his Mercedes Benz along with his team mates after becoming the man of the tournament in the Sharjah Cup! It doesn’t matter if the heydays of Sharjah are over! Abu Dhabi which has already hosted 17 international cricket matches since 2004 is fast emerging as the next big thing in cricket map and all set to recreate the Sharjah magic that kept the audience enthralled throughout the 80’s. And Dubai is already ICC’s head quarter and it has organized two ODIs after the cricket stadium in the Dubai Sports City was inaugurated a few days ago ahead of the Australia-Pakistan Series.

The experts in the UAE travel department are sure; cricket can boost up the tourist influx to and from the region. The proximity to the most cricket-crazy region that is Asian subcontinent can be an added advantage for the places like Dubai or Sharjah, which doesn’t take more than a couple of hours from Mumbai. However, it is not only the Asian cricket fans that the UAE is targeting. The tourism sector, with its innovative cricket packages is aiming to lure the global cricket fans.  “Cricket has global following involving billions of passionate fans, so when you couple this with the non-stop services that Emirates offers from over 100 destinations on six continents to Dubai, I am sure that cricket fans will be looking to come here to watch world-class action.” Maurice Flanagan, Executive Vice-Chairman, Emirates Group, was quoted saying.

In an attempt to extend their visibility among the targeted customers, the famous Emirates airlines from UAE, has endorsed cricket in a big way; Emirates is the title sponsor of the Kings XI Punjab team for current IPL season. In addition to that, it has worked out another lucrative package to woo the global cricket fans during the ongoing IPL season.  Emirates Holidays, the destination and leisure management division of Emirates airline has come up with lucrative travel packages from various destinations in India to Johannesburg (via Dubai), which include three nights accommodation on a twin-sharing basis with breakfast, Meet and Assist at the airport, transfers to airport/hotel/airport on seat-in-coach basis. And they have started getting positive responses in terms of airline bookings to South Africa.

Some seasoned businessmen in travel sector believes that all these efforts are sure to bring back the days of Sharjah, which acted as major tourist draw for the country. With the state of the art sports city coming into the scene, this time the revolution is going to happen in Dubai, instead of Sharjah.

Tanvir Khawaja, Managing Director, Arabian Air Travels told Emirates Business: “Cricket is a great driving force for tourism. Especially for this region because people from the India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are absolutely crazy over cricket and their fans will go wherever the tournament is held.

“However, if the matches are held in places like the UAE, which have a close proximity to the Indian sub-continent, instead of far off places like South Africa, it will be better because more people will be able to come to the UAE to see the matches as they are just three to four hours away from their countries.”

James Fitzgerald, spokesman for the ICC meanwhile confirmed that it will provide all kinds of supports to encourage holding more international cricket matches in the region in the future.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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