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| 'Aquamarine' comes calling; govt to promote cruise tourism |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Nov 28, 2009, 16:11 IST |
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A luxury cruise ship with all modern facilities will drop anchor at Cochin port soon, Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said today and observed that India can be a fabulous destination for cruise tourism with beautiful coastline, virgin forests and idyllic islands.
'Aquamarine', which has facilities like spa, gym, swimming pool, duty-free shops, beauty salon, bar and restaurants, will come calling at Kochi on December 1. After government announced the cruise tourism policy last year, Aquamarine is the first cruise to dock at Indian coast.
Earlier, Pandava, a river cruise, sailed from Kolkata to Varanasi in a limited exercise.
The Ministry has provided financial assistance to Kochi Port to develop the facilities for receiving cruises. "Since our ports are mainly meant for cargo ships, we have to develop infrastructure for cruise ships and we are offering financial assistance to port authorities for the purpose," Selja said.
Besides Kochi, other ports at Mumbai, Goa and Kolkata are being upgraded to receive cruise ships. With the Indian economy developing at a steady pace, the middle-class growing in number and ready to spend more on leisure activities, Selja hoped that India could also take on cruise shipping in a big way.
Cruise shipping is one of the fastest-growing components of leisure industry worldwide and emerging as a new marketable product with growth rate of 12 per cent per annum globally.
However, in India it is still in its infancy and only recently some activity was witnessed in the sector. Describing it as an opportunity for job-creation, Selja said, "Cruise shipping world over is seen as an employment generating leisure activity.
On an average, about 1,000 passengers travel on a cruise vessel. "When such vessels arrive at a port, automatically there is demand for a whole lot of other services. Thus a cruise call results in gainful employment to a lot of people."
Cruise ships also require bunkers, provisions, agency service and crew and there can be a significant contribution to the Indian economy from this sector.
Terming cruise shipping a supply-driven market, she said cruise liners are always in search of new markets, new itineraries and new destinations. "If adequate facilities, services and infrastructure are provided, they will attract more and more cruise operators," she said.
India has a 7,517 km-long coastline and strong port positioning which gives a natural advantage to the country to lure international cruise lines, Selja said adding, virgin forests and idyllic islands will add to the attractions.
India's positioning in South East Asia and its proximity to already popular cruise destinations will enable strong cruise circuits to be created over a period of time, she felt.
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