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Government To Develop 5 Ports As Cruise Tourism Hubs

To promote high-end tourism, GoI has proposed development of cruise tourism hubs. Five ports have been identified on the Indian coasts for the purpose. They include Mumbai, Mormugao, New Mangalore and Kochi on the west coastline, and Tuticorin on the east coastline. To formulate the

cruise tourism policy of the country, the decision to develop these ports as world class hubs has been taken. The steering committee for this will consist of members from Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Shipping. The ministry of tourism is also extending financial assistance for procurement of cruise vessels, development of tourism infrastructure and tourism projects like projects related to coastal monuments and tourist spots of different states. The Tourism Department will also share the expenditure for building cruise infrastructure on the port premises.

The cruise tourism is not a renowned sub sector in India due to which many players have not shown keen interest for cruise tourism yet. So far only two operators have started plying cruise vessels. They are - Star Cruises from Mumbai and Goa to Lakshadweep and Indian Ocean Cruise for

operating from Goa to Lakshadweep via Mangalore, Cochin and Trivandrum. Rather, some international players who are eyeing Indian peninsula's vast coastline have also shown interest in cruise tourism.

Currently, cruise tourism in India is limited to backwaters of Kerala despite the country having a coast line of 7,000 kilometers. It would be imperative to attract the existing cruise ships to India. India has many destinations which are connected by beautiful rivers. Developing river cruises that connect these destinations would not only create the access for cruise tourism, but would also enable India to strongly position its tourism destinations.