In an effort to promote further cruise tourism, the State-run Murmugao Port Trust (MPT) plans to introduce a ferry service between Mumbai to Goa in the next few months.
Announcing this at a news conference called here to announce the MPT’s financial performance for 2014-15, MPT’s Chairman Cyril C. George said that Goa continued to attract high-end tourists from world over.
“During the just ended financial year, the port hosted 26 high-end luxury cruise ships carrying over 21,084 tourists and 9,894 crew. This is an increase of 44 per cent in cruise traffic as compared to 18 cruise ships handled during the year 2013-14,” he said.
George said that in a bid to further facilitate cruise tourism, his organization was now constructing an ultra-modern cruise terminal building at an estimated cost of Rs 8.79 crore.
“We expect the cruise terminal to be ready by December 2016. The terminal building will have all the modern facilities such as Cafeteria, lounge, wi-fi connectivity, Foreign Exchange Counter,” George said.
George said that the MPT had registered a 25 per cent growth during the financial year ending March 31, 2015.