News

Falkland Cricket Club (FCC) from Newbury, Berkshire, will today travel over 7,000 miles to the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic to play its international namesake, the Falkland Islands Cricket Association (FICA).  Included in the three-match tour of the Falklands will be a thrilling return-leg on 5 March, during which FICA will hope to avenge their 22-run defeat to FCC in July 2007, during FICA’s seven-game tour of England.  FCC will be the first sporting team in history to visit the Falkland Islands with the purpose of playing sport, although teams from visiting naval and cruise ships have played in the Islands.

Click here to read the press release in full.

A record number of cruise ship passengers visited Stanley on Friday 6 February.  The cruise ships Infinity, Spirit of Adventure and Norwegian Sun brought 4,053 passengers to the Falklands capital, outstripping the previous record day of 3,779 which took place on 4 December 2007.  General Manager of the Falkland Islands Tourist Board, Jake Downing, said: “Visitor feedback was excellent, with a large proportion saying they’d consider coming back here again”. Mr Downing added that visitor numbers so far for this season were up 26% overall on last year, the growth being down to the worldwide boom in cruising, which is currently the fastest growing tourism sector in the world and more specifically due to the popularity of South America and Antarctica as cruising destinations.  Visit www.falklandislands.com for more information on the Falkland Islands Tourist Board.

The Review of Government presented by the Chief Executive in paper 233/08 has been broadly accepted by Executive Council.

Council took the view that certain of the recommendations in the paper should be re-worded and re-ordered to more fully describe the context of the recommendations, and to bring together in sequence some linked recommendations.

The recommendation (original recommendation 11) was considered to fall outside the scope of the review itself, but will be considered independently.

These amended recommendations as published now form the basis on which the Chief Executive will carry forward the review.

Click here to read the review.

Click here to read the paper.

Click here to read the paper

More than 26 years after the Liberation of the Falklands from Argentine forces, the British veterans who were part of Operation Corporate have their own house in Stanley.  Set on a hill overlooking the harbour and conveniently close to the town’s amenities, Liberty Lodge was officially opened on 3 February by the Commander of British Forces in the Islands, Air Commodore Gordon Moulds.  Derek ‘Smokey’ Cole of the Falklands Veterans’ Association masterminded the plan and the Chairman of the South Atlantic Medal Association, Lt Col Tony Davies MBE, assisted with raising funds for the building of the Lodge.  Many people in the community also pulled together to make the opening of the Lodge possible.  It is hoped that more veterans will stay in the Lodge, enjoy the company of Falkland Islanders and assist themselves in dealing with what they were involved in during the war.  Guests were given a tour of the spacious and comfortable four-bedroom house which is to be run by Islander Anya Cofre.  When not in use by war veterans, the Lodge will be open for use by members of the Armed Forces serving in the South Atlantic.

A re-designed website has been launched by Falklands Conservation, a charity that looks after the spectacular environment of the Falkland Islands.  The website contains sections on wildlife, conservation and education, as well as news updates and information on how visitors can help the charity.  Visit www.falklandsconservation.com.

This season has brought a significant increase in cruise passengers, according to the Falkland Islands Tourist Board.  General Manager Jake Downing said he expected almost 68,000 cruise passengers to visit the Falklands by the end of the season on 7 April.  Mr Downing is positive about the prospects for future seasons, as the cruise ship industry is well placed to weather the global economic downturn.  Visit www.falklandislands.com for further information on Falklands tourism.