Visakhapatnam: Giving a big boost to global tourism, Visakhapatnam International Cruise Terminal (VICT) will be opened on Monday, September 4.
Union minister for ports and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal will be the chief guest and inaugurate the Rs 96.05 crore VICT, jointly developed by Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) and the Union Tourism Ministry.
The terminal can facilitate berthing of 2,000-passenger capacity vessels with a draft of 8.1 metres. The terminal has parking space for seven buses, 70 cars and 400 two wheelers.
Cruise tourism is a huge opportunity for India. Its market size is US $7.1 billion. Port officials said VICT offers world-class port facilities with efficiency of services and operations. While the ministry of ports has given directions for concessional tariff for cruises, VPA will further examine possible discounts.
The cruise industry supports 1.17 million jobs across the globe in a variety of sectors – hospitality, aviation, agriculture, retail, entertainment, manufacturing, information services and health care.
India and Andhra Pradesh will greatly benefit from cruise tourism, as it will generate considerable employment. Andhra Pradesh has a variety of tourist attractions, including beaches, hills, caves, wildlife, forests and temples. AP is the third most popular tourist destination for domestic travellers, attracting 14 per cent of national footfalls. The number of international tourists will only increase as many tourism projects are coming up in Andhra Pradesh.
“The port is working closely with Andhra Pradesh tourism department as well as union ministry of tourism,” a spokesperson of the Port Authority said.
Visakhapatnam Port Authority is in touch with three cruise lines - Cordelia, Royal Caribbean and MSC. The existing cruise packages from India are: Mumbai-High Seas-Goa-Mumbai, Mumbai-Diu-Mumbai, Chennai-Trincomalee-Chennai, Mumbai to Venice, Mumbai to Male, Mumbai to Athens, Kolkata to Bangladesh, and Mumbai to Singapore.
