September 1, 2018 TnH Global 0

India Cruise Lines Association presents White Paper on “Recommendations for Indian Cruise Industry”

India Cruise Lines Association (INCLA), the only association of cruise lines in India, today presented a White Paper titled ‘Recommendations for the Indian Cruise Industry’ to Nitin Gadkari, Honorable Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India, in the presence of Shri Subhash Chandra, Chairman ZEE & Essel Group.

Shri Nitin Gadkari, Honorable Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India, said, “Cruise tourism has a big scope in India and can become an economically viable and profitable sector. With a potential of one crore cruise tourists, we sense an opportunity for 25 lakh jobs that will greatly benefit the economy.”

Gadkari added, “India has been aggressively developing the potential of its rivers and seas and we have already received interest from foreign players to set up manufacturing of hovercrafts, seaplanes among others in the country. The ministry has also recently resolved the issues regarding Cabotage laws and will look at the charter of demands from industry stakeholders to resolve them at the earliest to promote cruise tourism.”

“It is now or never,” said Subhash Chandra, Chairman ZEE & Essel Group adding, “The Indian cruise industry should handle five million passengers by 2020. At Essel Group, we have begun cruise business with the commitment to give people a great experience. As an industry leader we feel the proliferation of cruise tourism will bring one million jobs in the next three to four years. We will provide a homegrown alternative for Indians, who are presently going abroad to enjoy cruises.”

INCLA has been formed by leading cruise liners and other stakeholders from around the world with the objective of creating a roadmap for the development of the cruise sector in India and also to highlight various issues being faced by the Indian cruise industry, reforms required to address the said issues and to ensure that reforms are implemented effectively at ground level.

Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, Bombay Port Trust & Chairman, Indian Ports Association, said, “There are been a strategic shift in thinking regarding utilization of ports in India. We are planning to transform ports to support cruise tourism. The government is working very closely and several reforms, including reducing tariffs at five ports including Mumbai, Goa, New Mangalore, Kochi and Chennai have been undertaken.”

The viability of domestic and international cruise tourism originating from India was enthusiastically discussed amongst eminent panelists.

Nalini Gupta, Executive Committee Member, INCLA said, “The opportunity is huge and the market is hungry for cruise tourism. We believe that the Indian government has a vision to promote marine economy. A few years back there were some grey areas and hence there were considerable apprehensions among industry players. INCLA will collaborate with government and stakeholders to bring clarity in policy to boost cruise tourism in the country.”

Jurgen Bailom, Convener, INCLA, said, “Economies world-over are gaining immensely from cruise tourism owing to stakeholder friendly policies, evolution of customer needs and rapid development of infrastructure. With INCLA, we hope to bring in a transformation in the Indian waters, which are yet to be explored and experienced by tourists in India.”

This white paper has been prepared by INCLA with a view to highlight the necessary changes / clarifications in policy, various tax and regulatory laws, at the earliest to ensure a level playing field for cruise business in India compared to cruise operators based abroad and attract investors / cruise liners and other stakeholders to set-up cruise operations in India.