India can become powerhouse in cruise tourism: Thomas Cook India MD

India has the potential to turn out to be a powerhouse in ocean and river cruise tourism, whilst volatility of airfares and infrastructural gaps like restricted availability of high quality resorts pose challenges for the home market, Thomas Cook India Managing Director and CEO Mahesh Iyer mentioned. In an interview with PTI, he highlighted that cruise holidays have emerged as a extremely viable journey possibility by eliminating the complexities of a number of visas, providing seamless journey between locations and an all-inclusive proposition of lodging, eating, leisure and sightseeing in a single expertise.

“With authorities initiatives just like the Cruise Bharat Mission and Maritime India Imaginative and prescient 2030, we foresee constructive progress and growth on this phase,” the Thomas Cook India MD and CEO mentioned.

Additional, outlining obstacles for the nation’s journey and tourism sector, he mentioned challenges embrace infrastructural gaps like restricted availability of high quality resorts, significantly within the 3-star plus vary, which stays a constraint in a number of areas, particularly in a few of the northern hill stations.

Coastal areas profit from reliable sea entry, whereas sure rising circuits face challenges with last-mile connectivity, affecting the seamlessness of the journey expertise. “Nevertheless, the opening of latest circuits presents a possibility to handle this,” Iyer mentioned, including that the volatility of airfares, which impacts journey planning, budgeting and profitability, was one other problem.