Luxe Sailing
The word "new" works wonders in the cruise business. Last year, when Royal Caribbean Cruises launched the Symphony of the Seas, the bookings from India shot up dramatically. Tirun, the India representative of Royal Caribbean Cruises, ran out of space. People were ready to pay a premium over the previous years charges. For instance, a European product on that cruise would generally sell for $2,200 per guest for balcony staterooms, whereas Symphony sold at $3,500. "When we launch a new ship, the bookings surge," says Tirun CEO Varun Chadha.
Nearly 2,50,000 Indians travel on cruise ships per year. This number is set to grow substantially with the launch of new domestic cruise ships. The demand for luxury cruise is about 10 per cent (or 25,000 a year) of this.
The holiday on cruise trend had started in India almost 30 years ago. The first set of patrons was mostly industrialists and newly wed couples. For a long time,
Nalini Gupta, head of Costa Cruise India, says, "The country does have the longest coastline, much of which still stands unexplored, with untapped ports like Lakshadweep, Vizag and Andaman & Nicobar Islands which could be part of future itineraries. However, it is important to have good infrastructure and facilities up to international standards. I am confident that this will happen with the government's keen interest in building the blue economy." The government had introduced a cruise shipping policy in 2008 and set up a task force but the progress has been fairly slow.
