The Centre on Tuesday announced it would soon come out with a Cruise Tourism policy as it is one of the fastest growing components of the leisure industry worldwide and can be a major growth driver for the Indian economy.
While Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said India has the potential to cater to 700 cruise ships per year as against 158 handled this year, Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said Cruise Tourism will emerge as a “game changer” helping in earning valuable foreign exchange and job creation. Sharma announced for a cruise tourism policy by next month.
“The cruise industry can generate more than 2.5 lakh jobs for 10 lakh cruise passengers, giving a big boost to the country’s economy. Cruise tourism can be India’s economic growth engine as there is a vast untapped potential. In a month, the policy will be ready as a joint working group comprising shipping and tourism secretaries is working on it,” Gadkari said during the inaugural session of ‘Action Plan for Development of Cruise Tourism in India’ which was chaired by him.
The Netherlands-based consultant Bermello Ajmali has prepared a report on Cruise Tourism in India, which has a low penetration rate in the sector. At present, India has a very small share in world cruise tourism market, as against 23 million passengers globally in 2016.
Sharma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was keenly interested in tapping the tourism potential of the country and cruise tourism. “The arrival of tourists has gone up and India, which was placed on 52nd spot in world tourism and travel index of 2015, has improved its ranking further by 12 notches getting placed at 40th spot in 2017,” Sharma remarked during the inaugural session of a workshop on ‘Action Plan for Development of Cruise Tourism in India’ which was chaired by Gadkari.
At present, Gadkari said, India attracts 70 cruise vessels which can go up to 700 and a slew of steps are on to boost infrastructure that include building cruise terminals at five major ports -- Mumbai, Goa, New Mangalore, Chennai and Cochin. India, with a 7,500 km of coastline, has taken some key steps to promote cruise that includes relaxation of policies and roping in global consultants.
A cruise ship carries 3,000-4,000 tourists with 1,500- strong crew to various coastal cities, islands, countries, and itself acts like a destination with all entertainment, leisure activities on board.