Have you always dreamt of a holiday where you get to cruise but the add-on expenditure of flying to the nearest ports in Singapore, Hong Kong or Malaysia has you thinking? There is good news. Kochi has become the first port in India to start international cruise holidays to destinations in Sri Lanka and Maldives. Louise Cruises luxury liner Aquamarine MV set off on its maiden voyage to Male in The Maldives last week.
According to the Louis Cruises India, a subsidiary of Louis Cruise Lines, the fifth largest cruise operator in the world, there will be three sailings in a week: Kochi - Maldives (four days, three nights), Kochi - Colombo (four days, three nights) and Kochi High Seas (one night). The season for the first year will last till April 25. The second season will start in October 2010.
With 670 passengers and 350 crew on board, Aquamarine has many things to offer vacationers like enjoying a game of cricket on the deck, rejuvenating in the Swedish spa or splurging at the duty free shops on board. The ship also has two bowling machines and a cricket pitch for cricket enthusiasts. Apart from this, there are also three restaurants with a seating capacity ranging from 300 to 600 and a lounge with capacity of 600.
The ship will reach India from Colombo in 20 hours and from the Maldives in 24 hours. The cruise liner is selling its packages through a number of agents. There are two types of cruise packages - a one night option or a three night stay for which the price ranges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 12,000 per night per person.
The announcement has been enthusiastically received by the Indian travel industry who have been waiting for long to explore India's 7,000 km long coastline and strong port positioning.
Many even think that it is just a matter of time before a barrage of international cruise liners set their eyes over India. India's proximity to already popular cruise destinations in Southeast Asia just adds to its possibility of becoming a cruising hub shortly. Not that the footloose vacationers back home are complaining for they are always known to be looking for different options.
SOURCE:
Mail Today
Date - 6 December 2009
Edition - New Delhi
Showing posts with label Cruise Packages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cruise Packages. Show all posts
Monday, December 7, 2009
West Bengal eyeing Joint Venture to Develop River Tourism
Buoyed by the success of the Ganga river cruise, the first in India along the lines of international standard cruises on the Nile in Egypt and the Irrawady in Burma, the West Bengal Government is inviting joint venture partners to set up a company to give river tourism a fillip.
"We want to put up a Rs 130-200 crore project to develop river tourism in joint venture with a private company," Mr T. V. N. Rao, Managing Director, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Ltd, told Business Line. Tenders for this will be floated soon. The Government has also chalked out a plan to invest Rs 50 crore in building infrastructure such as jetties, heritage ghats and accommodation along the navigable stretch of the Ganga in the State, he added.
The immediate impetus for the new strategy is the runaway success of the 15-day, 1200 km voyage from the Sunderbans to Varanasi past the Farakka barrage, launched by Pandaw Cruises India in late September. The cruise operator is the Indian arm of an international cruise company that already operates in Myanmar, Indonesia and Cambodia. In a season that extends from September to March, it has four fully sold out voyages in India already under its belt, and is overbooked for every Sunderbans-Varanasi cruise, tagged at $5000, scheduled till March 2011.
Mr Raj Singh, Director, Pandaw, said the tourism potential is huge and that the attractions on this trip are virtually unparalleled. "It is a phenomenal trip. The diversity is mind-boggling. Here you have heritage (the route traverses former British, French, Dutch and Portuguese colonies), monuments, culture, natural beauty and wildlife all on the same trip," he said. The success of this venture has spawned plans to launch a second vessel on the stretch next year, he adds, indicating that there may be much merit in going full steam ahead.
SOURCE:
The Hindu Business Line
Date - 5 December 2009
Edition - New Delhi
"We want to put up a Rs 130-200 crore project to develop river tourism in joint venture with a private company," Mr T. V. N. Rao, Managing Director, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Ltd, told Business Line. Tenders for this will be floated soon. The Government has also chalked out a plan to invest Rs 50 crore in building infrastructure such as jetties, heritage ghats and accommodation along the navigable stretch of the Ganga in the State, he added.
The immediate impetus for the new strategy is the runaway success of the 15-day, 1200 km voyage from the Sunderbans to Varanasi past the Farakka barrage, launched by Pandaw Cruises India in late September. The cruise operator is the Indian arm of an international cruise company that already operates in Myanmar, Indonesia and Cambodia. In a season that extends from September to March, it has four fully sold out voyages in India already under its belt, and is overbooked for every Sunderbans-Varanasi cruise, tagged at $5000, scheduled till March 2011.
Mr Raj Singh, Director, Pandaw, said the tourism potential is huge and that the attractions on this trip are virtually unparalleled. "It is a phenomenal trip. The diversity is mind-boggling. Here you have heritage (the route traverses former British, French, Dutch and Portuguese colonies), monuments, culture, natural beauty and wildlife all on the same trip," he said. The success of this venture has spawned plans to launch a second vessel on the stretch next year, he adds, indicating that there may be much merit in going full steam ahead.
SOURCE:
The Hindu Business Line
Date - 5 December 2009
Edition - New Delhi
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