India hoping to make a splash in cruise market
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
By Anil Mathur
In a bid to boost the country’s cruise industry, the Indian government is now proposing to build dedicated cruise terminals at four of the country’s major ports – Chennai, Mumbai, Goa and Kochi.
To make the cruise market a more attractive option to these ports, versus the traditionally more lucrative cargo ship sector, incentives and a revised taxation system will be created to encourage the port authorities to cater for cruises.
India’s Tourism Secretary S. Banerjee told a conference on cruise tourism in Delhi that the country’s Ministry of Shipping is also participating ion the plans, and supports the cruise terminal proposals. Banerjee added that India expects to welcome a total of 10 million cruise tourists by 2010, an approximate 100% rise from 2007.
Cruise tourism is one of the growing segments of travel all over the world, however many Indians currently go abroad to take a cruise holiday. The Star cruise venture in India has been a great success but not many luxury liners call on Indian ports because of lack of adequate facilities. The new plans by the Ministry of Tourism now hope to alleviate this problem, paving the way for an Indian cruise boom.
Comments are closed.