NEW DELHI: The Union tourism ministry is working in tandem with other central government departments – railways, civil aviation, and shipping – to develop infrastructure and connect prominent tourist destinations located along the Indian coastal line for cruise tourism.
“The tourism ministry has allocated funds to the shipping ministry to create passenger terminals at major ports including Mumbai and Visakhapatnam and in the process of giving out additional financial assistance for the same,” said Union tourism minister G Kishan Reddy.
Under the Centre’s SagarMala Project, Chennai, Vizag, and Andaman ports will be connected with Goa, which receives maximum foreign tourists, to encourage cruise tourism.
“Cruise tourism will be developed on a mission mode. Next week, tourism and shipping ministries are holding a meeting in which we will make an action plan to include adventure and eco tourism also. If cruise tourism develops in India, it will greatly benefit Goa. For passenger terminals at port, tourism will give funds to the shipping ministry,” said Reddy while announcing the ministry’s initiatives in Goa on Saturday.
The Centre has been working to introduce cruise tourism for long as it is believed that India with its vast and beautiful coastline, virgin forests and undisturbed idyllic islands can be a fabulous tourist destination for cruise tourists. The objective of the policy is to make India as an attractive cruise tourism destination with the state-of-the-art infrastructural and other facilities at various parts in the country.
The government officials said that efforts are on for developing appropriate infrastructure at ports for handling cruise vessels and facilitating movement of passengers.