Over 1.6 lakh people visited India for cruise tourism in 2017-18

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister said a task force on cruise tourism was jointly formed by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Shipping with representatives of all the major ports and stakeholders for coordinated efforts to create an enabling ecosystem for the development of cruise tourism in India.

The task force meets regularly and the last meeting was held on May 21, he added.

"During the year 2017-18, a total of 1,62,660 cruise passengers visited India at six major ports namely Mumbai Port, Chennai Port, Cochin Port, Kolkata Port, New Mangalore Port and Mormugao Port," the minister said, adding that during the same period, 139 cruise ships visited these ports.

The Ministry of Tourism had also sanctioned projects worth Rs 106.39 crore for the development of cruise terminal-related infrastructure at the major ports of Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu under the scheme for "Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development", Alphons said.