• Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal launched ‘Cruise Bharat Mission’ from the Mumbai port.

• It is aimed at boosting the potential of cruise tourism in the country and doubling of cruise passenger traffic by 2029.

• The mission, which also aims to excel India’s vision to become a global hub for cruise tourism and promote the country as the leading global cruise destination, targets three key cruise segments — the ocean and harbour, river, inland and island. 

What is cruise tourism?

• Cruise tourism is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing components of the leisure industry worldwide.

• Cruise tourism involves an all-inclusive holiday on a cruise ship, whereby the ship calls at several ports or cities on a specific itinerary. It is a tourism product that offers and combines attractions, activities, access, accommodation and amenities. The nature of cruise ships makes them as destinations in themselves, where features and amenities are comparable or even superior to resorts on land.

• The cruise industry is one of the largest growing sectors in the tourism industry globally.

• But this industry, much like airlines, can be heavily dependent on world events and the world economy. It has been heavily impacted by health related concerns like COVID-19 pandemic.

• North America and Europe are large cruise markets in the world. Europe has been driving growth with around a large share of river cruise vessels in the world with rivers Danube in Europe and Yangtze in China dominating the river cruise market globally.

• The coastline of India and its inland waterways have enormous potential to develop cruise tourism, both international and domestic.

• The domestic river cruise industry is at a nascent stage with an initial focus on NW 1 (Ganga) and NW 2 (Brahmaputra).

• The economic potential of cruise tourism is expected to go up from $110 million to $5.5 billion in the years to come.

• Tourism activities like river rafting, camping, sightseeing, kayaking and so on are in operation in many spots in the country. 

• As the capital expenditure is pumped to build capacity in the inland waterways, the river cruise is set to grow further with systematic forward and backward linkage for the economy, especially across the banks of the rivers.

Implementation of Cruise Bharat Mission

• Phase 1 (October 1, 2024 to September 30 2025) will focus on conducting studies, master planning, and forming cruise alliances with neighbouring countries. It will also modernise existing cruise terminals, marinas, and destinations to enhance the potential of cruise circuits.

• Phase 2 (October 1, 2025 to March 31, 2027) will concentrate on developing new cruise terminals, marinas, and destinations to activate high-potential cruise locations and circuits.

• Phase 3 (April 1, 2027 to March 31, 2029) will focus on integrating all cruise circuits across the Indian Subcontinent, marking the maturity of the cruise ecosystem while continuing the development of cruise terminals, marinas, and destinations.

Expected outcomes:

• The key performance targets across the phases include increasing sea cruise passengers from 0.5 million in phase 1 to one million by Phase 3, with corresponding increases in sea cruise calls from 125 to 500.

• It also expects the river cruise passengers to grow from 0.5 million in phase 1 to 1.5 million by phase 3 while the number of international cruise terminals is likely to expand from two in phase 1 to 10 by phase 3 and river cruise terminals from 50 to 100.  

• The ministry is expecting a rise in passengers from 4.6 lakh in 2024 to 5 million by 2047. 

• The mission also aims to create 4 lakh employment in the cruise sector during this period.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store