VIKRAM NAYAK
VASCO
With a recent boost in cruise tourism across India, the global cruise line company MSC Cruises, reportedly the world’s largest privately held cruise company, has ambitious expansion plans and looks forward to Indian seas as a market.
In an exclusive interaction with The Goan when the MSC Lirica had recently stopped at the Mormugao Port, MSC Cruises General Manager (India) Kunal Sampat sought to debunk the myth that cruise holidays are expensive, claiming that a land holiday was always a more expensive affair compared to a cruise holiday.
“It’s a myth or a perception that cruise holidays are expensive, basically because you see the luxury and grandeur inside the cruise ship. Be rest assured that if you actually compare the pricing between a cruise holiday and a land holiday, cruising is always a winner,” said Sampat.
Sampat further said MSC was quite aggressive in marketing, to enlighten customers and travel agents about the cruise ship industry.
“We want to educate and empower the trade partners or travel agents so that it becomes easier for them to sell MSC cruises as a product. Our strategy is also to spread awareness of a cruise
holiday,”
Commenting on MSC’s ambitious expansion plans, Sampat said: “We have the youngest fleet in the cruising industry. Since 2017, we are launching new ships every year and we will have a fleet of 22 cruise ships by 2027. We have also recently announced our entry in the ultra-luxury segment and we will launch 4 ultra-luxury ships between 2022 and 2026.”
“Plans are ambitious with the fleet coming in and right now, our main concentration is Europe and Caribbean, where there is round the year cruising. We look forward to India as well.”
“We need to have the right itinerary because at the end of the day, it’s not only the ship that attracts the passengers, it’s also the itinerary which should be suitable to the passengers as well.”
“We are also working with the planning team, so that when we have more ships and if we need to deploy one ship in the Indian waters, we need a perfect itinerary suitable for the Indian passengers. There is nothing concrete yet, but yes, we look forward to India as an opportunity.”
Sampat also said that 2019 being a crucial year and an election year, MSC would wait for economic reforms before foraying into Indian waters.
“In India, we are sitting on a gold mine when it comes to cruise tourism. We have a coastline of 7,500 kms and we need to use this avenue to promote cruise tourism and use the gold mine to its best.”
“Every time our ship is in India, it not only makes us extremely happy but also gives us a chance to showcase our product to our trade partners so that they know what they are selling,” said Sampath.
He said the central government is gung-ho about tourism and has invested huge money in building international level cruise terminals at important ports of Goa, Mumbai, Mangalore, Cochin and Chennai.
“The government is working to build infrastructure at these places. But it’s not only about infrastructure. At the end of the day, it has to make business sense for the cruise liner.”
“We definitely look forward to the government’s support for international cruise liners to come to India by offering some relaxations.”
“Every time a cruise ship comes to any port in India, we get around 3,000 international passengers into the city and the country, which increases foreign revenues,” said Sampat.
