July 9. India wants to bet big on cruises. Consider these ambitious plans from Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy:
- Increase the number of cruise passengers to 4 million by 2041, up from just 300,000 this year.
- Build three new international cruise ports by 2024.
- Grow the number of cruise ships from 208 in 2023 to 500 by 2030 and a staggering 1,100 by 2047.
The goal is to bring in some $4.9 billion in revenue from cruises by 2041.
India has many natural advantages, including 12 major and 200 minor ports, a coastline stretching 4,660 miles and a network of over 12,427 mile-long navigable waterways.
The international cruise terminal in Mumbai will be operational by December this year, the one in Goa’s Mormugao by November, and the Visakhapatnam terminal will start functioning next month. A $2 million swanky cruise terminal was recently inaugurated at Chennai Port, spread over an area of 2,880 square meters with a capacity to host 3,000 passengers at a time. Additionally, plans are afoot to develop new cruise tourism terminals in Andamans, Puducherry and Lakshadweep circuits.
Last month, India’s maiden international cruise ship, Cordelia Cruises’ MV Empress, set sail from the southern city of Chennai to the island nation of Sri Lanka. And the Italian cruise line Costa Cruises announced 23 new sailings in the country for the winter.
Just a week later, the government floated a draft national cruise tourism policy under which the Ministry of Tourism proposed to set up a board to facilitate ease of business and ensure that cruises are used as a tool to drive tourism into and within India.
Source: Skift
