KOCHI: In what could be a considerable boost to the tourism industry in the state, the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) is all set to invite an Expression of Interest from companies willing to set up helipads for facilitating air tourism to sites like Munnar and Alappuzha from its existing cruise liner docking facilities in Mattancherry and Ernakulam Wharf.
If this comes to fruition, tourists on-board cruise vessels docking at the Cochin Port, which is usually for less than a day, will have the option of covering all exotic places in the state in a day.
Cochin Port Trust (CPT) chairman A V Ramana told Express: “We are in the final stage of inviting tenders for setting up the facility. Though we do not expect to gain much from this, it will surely boost local tourism avenues and be an added attraction for cruise liners to dock at Kochi.” CPT had slashed docking charges by 30 per cent to attract more cruise liners.
Earlier, 30,000 and 70,000 Gross Registered Tonnage vessels attracted a fee of around Rs 30 and Rs 75 lakh, respectively. CPT expects to handle about 65,000 tourists from Europe and America arriving in 50 large cruise vessels in this fiscal year. During their brief stay in Kochi, these high net-worth individuals spend close to 400 dollars per day on an average.
At present, cruise vessels up to 260 m long are handled at the BTP berth and Samudrika, the cruise passenger facilitation centre. CPT is constructing a state-of-the-art International Cruise Terminal at the site.