PM Modi to Launch 3,200 Km River Cruise from Kashi Soon: Centre's Dive Into Cruise Tourism EXPLAINED

The world’s longest river cruise, from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, will be launched on January 13 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Why is the Government Concentrating on Cruises Shipping and waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal recently stated that the development of coastal and river shipping, including cruise services, is one of the government’s top priorities. The government of India has taken several initiatives to boost the country’s cruise tourism industry, including infrastructure upgrades, rationalisation of port fees, removal of ousting charges, priority berthing for cruise ships, and the provision of e-visa facilities, it said. ‘Four theme based coastal destination circuits such as Gujarat Pilgrimage tours, West Coast – Cultural and scenic tours, South Coast – Ayurvedic wellness tours, and East Coast – Heritage tourism have been developed to activate cruise demand,’ Minister of State, Shripad Naik had said. He stated that the Indian government has prepared the Maritime Vision Document 2030, which focuses on heritage tourism, Ayurveda tourism, coastal tourism, river cruise tourism, and so on.