Cruise tourism footfall will be the highest ever at 4.7 lakh in 2023-2024

NEW DELHI: Cruise tourism in India has reached a new high with visitor numbers reaching 4.7 lakh in 2023-24, higher than the pre-pandemic period. Interestingly, government data shows that the share of domestic tourists has increased by almost 85% compared to 2019-2020, indicating how domestic cruise tourism is becoming popular in the country.

According to government data, the share of domestic and international cruise tourists in 2019-20 was almost 50-50, while the total number of visitors was just over 4.2 lakh. During the pandemic year, there were no footfalls as services stopped. In 2021-2022, the number of domestic cruise visitors revived, but there were no international tourists.

Data showed that while the number of domestic cruise visitors rose to nearly 4 lakh in 2022-23, the number of international tourists was barely 29,026. In the past financial year, the number of international tourists more than tripled to 98,344. “There are enormous opportunities in this sector. Several steps have been taken, including guaranteed berths for cruise ships over others, concessional and uniform rationalized berthing rates for all major ports, e-visas and visa facilities on arrival and the introduction of a single e-landing card valid for all ports in the cruise route. “said a source.

Officials said international cruise ships were regularly calling at the ports of Mumbai, Goa, New Mangaluru and Kochi. Domestic cruises were operational from September 2021 on Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Diu, Mumbai-Kochi, Mumbai-Lakshadweep, Mumbai-High Seas and Chennai-Vizag routes. Moreover, nine waterways are in use for river cruise tourism, including the Varanasi-Haldia section of Ganga and the Dhubri-Sadiya section of Brahmaputra.

The government also plans to develop theme-based tourism circuits such as pilgrimages to Gujarat, cultural and scenic tours on the west coast, ayurvedic wellness tours on the south coast and heritage tours on the east coast.