Cordelia Cruises eyes West Asia ports as next stop overs

Cordelia Cruises is all set to add important ports in West Asia to its itinerary as the next stop overs from June 2024, a top executive said.

“Last month, we commenced our international sailing from Chennai to three coasts in Sri Lanka. Next June, we will be touching the coasts of Oman, UAE, entire gulf region, Qatar and Bahrain from Mumbai,” Waterways Leisure Tourism Pvt. Ltd.’s president & CEO Jurgen Bailom said in an interaction.

Cordelia is owned by Waterways Leisure Tourism, an arm of the Dream Hotel Group. The India-focussed cruise operator is planning to provide more options to Indian travellers with three, four, five and seven-night packages for voyages from Mumbai to West Asia as against five-night package to Sri Lanka. These packages would cost roughly ₹11,000 to ₹13,000 for a person per day.

“Our decision to operate on an international route with Sri Lanka this year and the West Asia in 2024 reflects our long-term vision and commitment to promoting India’s maritime tourism industry,” Mr. Bailom said.

Asserting that the number of Indian tourists on Cordelia had been on the rise since its launch, he said that since September 2021 more than 4 lakh people had travelled. This included 1.30 lakh travellers on the West coast circuit and 70,000 from the East per year.

“Globally, the number of travellers has crossed the pre-pandemic levels. The tourist potential from India and SE Asia looks bright,” Mr. Bailom said adding that the operator was planning to acquire 2-3 vessels bigger than Cordelia in the near future keeping the growth potential in mind.

According to him, it would cost about ₹500 crore per vessel, which would be met through internal accruals.

On any plans for a own cruise terminal, he said the current requirement was development of proper infrastructure and increased awareness.

Taking the monsoon into consideration, Cordelia is operating on the East Coast (Chennai-Sri Lanka) from July to September and on West Coast (Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and Lakshadweep) from October to June.

“India boasts of the world’s third largest coastline, offering numerous opportunities for the cruise industry. In the future, we can also look forward to visiting other ports such as Kolkata, Port Blair, Diu, New Mangaluru and Porbandar, if infrastructure permits,” he said.

On future plans, he said: “We are committed to providing a consistent and exceptional cruising experience, and our plan is to continue operating in the coming years and beyond.”

(This correspondent was in Sri Lanka recently on invitation from Cordelia Cruises)