THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To enhance tourism experience and offer more to tourists visiting the state, Kerala Tourism is all set to foray into cruise tourism. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the tourism department has finalised a cruise tourism policy for the state that aims to explore the state’s untapped maritime potential. The initiative aims to launch cruise routes that connect both major and minor tourist destinations along the state’s coastline, offering tourists a chance to explore and experience the state from an entirely different perspective.
It is learned that the draft cruise tourism policy is likely to get the green signal in the next cabinet meeting. An official of the tourism department said that the state is shifting from destination-based tourism to experiential tourism.
“Kerala is facing competition from other tropical countries and they are offering everything we have. Cruise tourism is one of the key experiences that the tourism department is intending to promote and tap into as it would offer more immersive and memorable travel experiences for the tourists,” said the official.
The plan is to start cruise operations across seven ports in the state jointly with Kerala Maritime Board. With the operations of Vizhinjam International Port gaining momentum, the tourism department is considering this as an opportunity to integrate the cruise tourism project with broader port development plans.
The plan is to identify destinations and develop circuits from the ports located at Vizhinjam, Kochi, Alappuzha, Kollam, Beypore, Neendakara and Kayamkulam. Chairman of Kerala Maritime Board N S Pillai told TNIE that once the government approves the policy, the Board will align its operations accordingly and offer the necessary infrastructure support to facilitate seamless cruise operations.
“We will upgrade and offer all the infrastructure required to launch cruise tourism in the state. There is immense potential and private operators will operate vessels with varying seating capacity with cabins and all other luxury amenities. It could be interstate, interdistrict or operations linking Goa or Bengaluru,” said N S Pillai. He said there are active cruise operations in Kochi and large international cruise vessels are unable to dock because of a lack of depth.
“At present, we are offering only day cruises in Kochi and we can offer more with the new cruise policy. In future, if the Adani Port decides to construct a cruise terminal at Vizhinjam, all this would be possible,” said N S Pillai. The Maritime Board is planning to develop the port either with private investment of their own funds and facilitate private parties to launch cruise operations.