The ‘Link with India’ session looked at destination development in the sub-continent and in particular at the five ports of Mumbai, Goa, Mangalore, Chennai and Cochin, singled out as prime gateways for cruise infrastructure development.
Due to the proximity of these ports to their respective city centres, tours can reach attractions within 15 minutes to an hour's drive with history and heritage, culture and entertainment, spiritual and nature and beaches and islands listed among the top draws, the pair noted.
India offers a high value of rich cultural shorex and land programms, commented John Stoll of Crystal Cruises, which already touches India on itineraries. Chris Coates of Cruise & Maritime Voyages, which calls in Indian ports on world voyages said it is a country that is of interest for future deployments and one which British passengers are very interested in visiting.
Nalini Gupta, md Lotus Destinations, the gsa for Costa Cruises in India spoke about the nuiances of the Indian passenger. 'They cruise mainly with families or as couples, food is important as they are motivated by their stomachs and they are looking for an active experience with high energy entertainment plus gambling and good service levels.'
She said on Costa neoClassica's current sailings ex-Mumbai around 70% of passengers are Europeans and 30% sourced from the local market, 'which works extremely well', but she said with word of mouth being the biggest generator of publicity surrounding cruise vacations there is no reason why more Indians will be cruising ex-India next year and beyond if there is sufficient capacity to meet demand.
Some of the cruise line executives present whose vessels are calling India expressed their concerns that whilst e-landing cards and e-visa have been introduced for visiting cruise passengers when it comes to processing large numbers of passengers through immigration at Indian ports, the procedures were still very slow and insufficient manpower has been delegated to the task.
This was noted by Rajan and Wanage as an issue they would be looking at on their return to India.
Wanage, speaking on behalf of the Indian delegation visiting Seatrade Middle East Cruise Forum for the first time, concluded by saying: 'We have learned a lot over these two days and have come away with a clear picture of what we have to continue to do to realise Indian's potential on the world cruising stage.'
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