With 27 weeks to go before the gates open for the Ridley Polocrosse World Cup 2007, travel packages for domestic and international visitors have been unveiled by the official tour operator.

In December 2005 World Cup organisers appointed Greg Ritchie Travel as their official tour operator and last month they secured Qantas as the official airline.

Months of research and negotiations have come to fruition with the unveiling this month of package tours for visitors from each of the key markets. These include Europe, North America, New Zealand as well as domestic Australian travellers. Within days of the UK package going to market, the first bookings were received.

The packages include return airfares, accommodation, tickets and ground transfers to the World Cup competition 23:29 April 2007. Optional extras feature operators which have supported the World Cup through the sponsorship programme. These include Captain Cook Cruises, Peppers Retreats & Resorts and Warner Village Theme Parks.

In March this year, former cricket international Greg Ritchie confirmed that his travel firm would make a donation to event organisers for every traveller who books flights and accommodation through them. See www.gulliverssportstravel.com.au/polocrosse.php.

World Cup Treasurer Mrs Robyn Fraser said: "As the host club previously we have handled accommodation bookings for the polocrosse community ourselves, but with an event of this scale that is impractical for us. There is a huge amount of detail in team and supporters travel arrangements and outsourcing to a specialist sports travel company was the practical solution. We'd encourage visitors to use their one-stop-shop solution."

The Ridley Polocrosse World Cup 2007 will be held 23:29 April 2007 at Morgan Park Warwick. See www.polocrosse.com.au/worldcup.