KOCHI: Finally, cruising is coming back to Kochi. After the bad experience of Louis Cruise in Kochi which forced them to call off the operations due to heavy berth charges, AMET Group has decided to try their luck and has started preparations to operate its cruise by the first week of October. AMET Group chief executive officer P Bharathi held discussions with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) officials on Tuesday in this regard. The final decision on berth charges and other facilities offered by CPT will be taken at the next CPT board meeting. Ross Masood, director, The Great India Tour Company Pvt Ltd, which is the marketing agency for the AMET Group, said that talks with CPT were positive. CPT has assured all help to start the cruise service from Kochi.It is planned to start cruise service from Kochi to Maldives (four nights), Kochi-Lakshadweep (two nights) and high-sea trip during the night. If there is one trip to Maldives and three high-seas this week, next week it will be two trips to Lakshadweep and three high-seas which will continue on a rotation basis.According to Masood, the high-seas trip has been planned each week as it was the most attractive tour package. It will be like a get away from the city for a day.AMET Group will operate for five to six months a year and at least 100 calls will be made at the Kochi berth. At present there are around 50 to 60 cruises calling at the Kochi port and with the operation of the AMET Group it will increase to more than 150 a year. With the operation of the cruise from Kochi, cruise tourism in Kerala is likely to gain momentum and is expected to bring in huge revenue. New facilities are likely to come up at the Kochi berth to attract more tourists to experience luxury cruising.When Louis Cruise started their service from Kochi, nearly 2,50,000 people enjoyed the cruise in just six weeks. Of this, 50 percent of tourists were from other states.
Comments
0 comment