VASCO
In a major boost to tourism activity in the State, the Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) will get as many as 56 international and domestic cruise ships in the upcoming tourist season between September to April 2023.
MPA Chairman Venkata Ramana Akkaraju said that the MPA will get the first domestic cruise by September end, followed by international cruise ships in October.
"We expect 21 international and 35 domestic cruise vessels in the fair season till April. The domestic cruise Angriya will also resume operations after two months somewhere in November-December.”
“We have started construction of the new cruise terminal of 55,000 sq mtrs area at a cost of Rs 74.11 crores and will be completed by September 2023. We will presently operating domestic and international cruise ships from the existing cruise terminal," said Akkaraju.
Akkaraju said the MPA had a series of meeting with stakeholders to ensure that international and domestic passengers get a comfortable and memorable experience, since the cruise business had resumed after a gap amid the pandemic.
"The SOPs for the customs, immigration, port and operators are already in place and respective organisations must follow these SOPs. The central government is stressing on ease of doing business and has digitised submission of documents, e-land passes and automated e-visas.”
“The first cruise ship will arrive by the 28-30 of September to mark the start of the cruise tourism season for MPA," said Akkaraju.
TOURISM REVENUE
Akkaraju said cruise tourism would generate huge revenue volumes for the State.
"Each cruise ship carries an average of around 3,000 passengers, mostly European and American people who are high net worth individuals and almost every passenger spends around 100 USD to 150 USD. When a huge ship comes to Goa, at least 2,000 people disembark, which means that each ship can generate upto 2,000 x 100 USD per ship on an average on the minimum side. We can calculate this with 56 vessels calling here back-to-back in a span of few months to see the amount of money that will flow in," said Akkaraju.
BENEFIT TO LOCALS
The MPA chairman said local artisans, local village industries and local eateries will get maximum benefit from this cruise business.
“We also want to create temporary places in the port where local artisans can display their goods and try to sell directly to the passengers. We will have a welcome to the first ship by local artistes reflecting the culture of Goa.”
“We will also have hoardings reflecting the culture of Goa and India on our cruise terms for the passengers to see when they walk from one point to another," said Akkaraju.
TAXI, COACH OPERATORS
Akkaraju said MPA will address issues between taxi operators and coach operators by taking authorities into confidence.
"We want to avoid disputes between stakeholders and everyone must strive to give a better experience to the tourist, otherwise they will not come and everyone will suffer.”
“The locals will only benefit from the cruise because the port makes zero profit in cruise business. We are handling cruise vessel as part of the Central Government objective to promote tourism to create more direct and indirect employment to locals and generate more revenue to the local economy", said Akkaraju.
