Leveraging the beachfront and available jetties or keeping in mind the development of other ports and bringing in luxury boats or small cruise ships has potential for development of tourism.
It offers a something novel for tourists coming from land-locked States like the neighbouring Chhattisgarh or even Telangana besides local interest in such new attractions, Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha member K. Haribabu told The Hindu.
Luxury boats
“Luxury boats can leave in the evening from the jetty at fishing harbour or may be a new one to be constructed. The boats take tourists into the sea for a few nautical miles and anchor. After dinner, watching the well-lit bay front they can come back,” he says. Logistics relating to anchoring will not be a problem, he felt.
Mr. Haribabu also says small cruise ships, not big liners, can introduce cruise to places like Kakinada or other ports and tourists can leave in the morning and return by evening spending time on the high seas.
A few ports being planned as a part of expanding the infrastructure can also be used later, he says.
This will give tourists the experience of going on a cruise.
“The potential has to be explored and if operators come forward we will co-operate in the processing of obtaining licences and approvals from the State government or the Government of India,” he says.
Commercial enterprise
However, this will be a purely commercial enterprise and only on testing waters can be expanded depending on the potential, he adds.