Possibilities of developing river cruising across states: Antara Cruises

State governments are fascinated with river cruising and there are potentialities of growing river cruising throughout a number of states, mentioned Raj Singh, founder chairman, Antara Cruises – Heritage River Journeys Pvt Ltd in an interview with ET.

“We have now over 111 rivers which have been designated as national waterways. Out of 111, not less than half might be utilized for river cruising. States are fascinated with river cruising,” he mentioned.

“The federal government of Madhya Pradesh is attempting to develop one thing in Narmada. The federal government of Andhra Pradesh desires to do one thing in Godavari. We’re already working a cruise in Brahmani river in Odisha and we hope to foray into river cruising in Kerala and Goa too,” he added.

Singh mentioned having began cruises from Kolkata to Varanasi as early as 2009, the corporate has come a great distance.

“Elevating consciousness and educating individuals has been a problem. In 2018 we began the cruise from Kolkata to Dhaka and in 2023, we added the Varanasi-Kolkata-Dhaka- Guwahati route. By this 12 months, we’d have 9 river cruise ships,” he mentioned.

“We’re the only largest river cruise operator within the nation. We function on nationwide waterway primary, that’s Ganga, in addition to nationwide waterway quantity two, that’s Brahmaputra in addition to nationwide waterway quantity 5. We additionally function on the Indo Bangladesh protocol route which implies the route which fits from Kolkata by Bangladesh to Assam and to Guwahati,” he added.In October, Antara Cruises introduced the arrival of the MV Bengal Ganga to Varanasi, marking the start of its new religious and cultural journeys on the Ganga River. Following its relocation from Kolkata, the ship docks at Namo Ghat. Aside from seeing the Ganga Aarti, the vacationers are taken on a tour to the encompassing districts within the Varanasi cruise. The ship cruises upstream in the direction of Chunar, Mirzapur and Prayagraj and downstream in the direction of Kaithi, Ghazipur, Ballia and Patna relying on water circumstances.

Singh mentioned over 80% of the shoppers are worldwide travellers, and demand is up 25% over final 12 months. The per evening fee for a deluxe cabin for the Varanasi cruise is Rs 35,000. The three nights 4 days cruise departs each Friday.

“These new journeys from Varanasi not solely provide vacationers a cultural, distinctive and stylish expertise, however can even create new financial alternatives and assist for native communities,” mentioned Singh. “Our cruises are designed to advertise tourism alongside the waterways with out affecting conventional native employment. We consider in sustainable tourism that helps native livelihoods whereas offering travellers with an unforgettable expertise of the wealthy cultural traditions of the area,” he added.