The Goan.Ports do not earn much from cruise ships? Why do you want them to put effortsinto something which is not profitable?
GautamChadha: Cruise tourism is not about the port, but about community and societyat large. If a 2,000 passenger ship comes into a port, a passenger will spendon an average about $200 dollars per day. We are talking about $4,000 per dayincome to the city and society. Questions have to be asked and somewhere alongthe way someone has to start linking all this up so that the economic value isbrought to the forefront.
TG. Soyou are saying that the ports need to go back and read their mandates?
GC: Yes.Questions have to be asked on what is the mandate of the Port Trust. Are they acorporation? Are they only for profit? If they are a Trust then what is theircontribution to society that they are supposed to serve? Why call them a Trust,let’s call them a co-operation if they are for profit only.
TG. Youtalk so much about cruise tourism, but India despite having a long coast, doesnot have a single cruise operator. Why?
GC. It is achicken and egg story. Getting things to change and happen is going to be verychallenging. Question is how do we get an Indian shipping company to come andinvest here? And, this is going to be difficult as first it is a high capitalindustry, infrastructure is missing and expertise in the field is absent. Inaddition the government rules make it difficult for cruise operators to ply theIndian coast.
