The Mormugao Port Trust chairman Dr E Ramesh Kumar has informed that Goa is a citadel for tourism in India and it has its own uniqueness about its natural beauty.

He was addressing to the delegates at the ‘Sensitisation Workshop on Cruise Tourism’, organised jointly by MPT under the auspicious of Ministry of Tourism govt of India.

Addressing further, Dr Kumar said, “There is a tremendous increase in the cruise tourism calls at Mormugao Port during the last five years. We have touched around 102 cruise calls in the just ended financial year, and I can assure you the figures will double in the coming year. The cruise passenger arrivals were around 70,000 to 80,000 during the just concluded season. I am confident that the figures will touch to around 1.5 lakh in the current year. I also assure that with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and the enthusiasm of the Ministry of Shipping, we will set up a state of the art cruise terminal.”

The regional director India tourism (Mumbai) Neela Lad, additional collector South Agnelo Fernandes, noted historian Sanjeev Sardessai, traffic manager MPT Vipin Menoth, senior deputy traffic manager MPT Jerome Clement, assistant commandant CISF Shiv Kumar Kumavat, Cyrus Irani, Sithart Shah, Luis Fernandes, Shailesh Thakur and other stakeholders involving the officials of customs and central excise, bureau of immigration, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, Goa police, CISF besides other delegates have attended the workshop.

He disclosed that traditionally ports in India are segments for trade and modes of transport for cargoes, but world over many countries are thriving on tourism as an important ingredient of economy.

“The very thought of tourism is changing, the simple reason being that better connectivity has brought an overall change and we are able to reach places. The important word in cruise tourism is the experience one would accrue from that. It is the wholesome impact that one carries right from time one boards the cruise vessel till the time one disembarks”, he remarked.

He thanked Lad for the initiative taken by her to hold this very important workshop on cruise tourism in Goa and for her personal presence at the day-long workshop.

The regional director India tourism (Mumbai) Lad said, “Cruise tourism helps the state to strengthen its economy, and is an employable opportunity for manpower in different segments. The government is helping the ports to provide facilities to give a boost to cruise tourism since there is tremendous potential in this sector.”