The Shipping Ministry on Monday said it has set up a committee to examine cruise tourism reforms.
The committee will consider a single window system for cruise requirements, dedicated approach road for cruise terminals, reducing security layer for passengers and other measures.
The Ministry had hired a global consultant to firm up an action plan aimed at facilitating customer-friendly and hassle-free logistics process for the cruise tourism industry. The Shipping Ministry shortlisted almost a dozen proposals given by the consultancy firm and has asked the committee to “work out the modalities” for implementing these recommendations in a time-bound manner.
“Single window system for all pre-cruise requirements for cruise operators like entry of vehicles, personnel and (tourist) guides, electronically doing away with checking of registration, licence papers of vehicle at each time,” one of the nine recommendations listed by the Ministry said.
The committee will further examine a proposal to streamline security procedures by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at all ports. “The current security check procedures are complicated, time‐intensive and inconsistently enforced. They call for intensified security requirements and multiple checks creating logistical issues for the cruise corporation,” the report submitted by the consultant said, adding security processes is the primary hurdle for the industry.
The committee will look into a proposal for joint collaboration between the Bureau of Immigration and CISF to “redesign the existing procedure to give a pleasant experience to the cruise tourists visiting India” and ensure that passengers are frisked by security personnel only once while entering a cruise.
Segregating cargo and passenger flow at ports is another area which will be examined by the committee set up by the Shipping Ministry.
Recently, Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the cruise tourism policy will help in drawing up to 700 cruise vessels a year, up from 70 at present.
India’s cruise passengers stood at 1.76 lakh in 2016-17, which was merely 0.5% of the global share. Domestic cruise passengers are estimated to grow to 1.5 million by 2031-32. Of the 12 major ports, five — Mumbai, Goa, Cochin, New Mangalore and Chennai — have facilities to berth international cruise ships.
