India’s travel and tourism industry has ushered into a new and exciting phase – with the waterways emerging as the hot favourite amongst domestic travellers today. India is experiencing a remarkable surge in ‘cruise tourism’, driven by growing interest in international travel and modernized port infrastructure. With more Indians setting sail to distant shores, the cruise industry is seeing an exciting new wave of growth.
The long-term goal laid out by the tourism department is to build a globally competitive cruise sector by 2047. India’s cruise tourism is certainly sailing through unchartered waters off late – taking bold courses and emerging as the new travel favourite for the domestic travellers.
- In the past few years, cruise tourism from India has witnessed a steady increase, with the number of passengers surging across both domestic and international routes. The fiscal year 2024-25 saw an impressive 4.92 lakh cruise travelers, a growth of nearly six times from the 84,000-passenger figure in 2013-14.
- While cruising currently accounts for just 1% of India’s outbound travel, the potential for growth is massive.
The Union Tourism Ministry launched the ‘Cruise Bharat Mission’ in September 2024, which aims to elevate the current figure to 2.5 million passengers annually by 2029 – 1.5 million river cruise passengers and 1 million ocean cruise passengers, as part of the Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030. With a target like this, cruise tourism is poised for significant growth in the coming years.
- Over the last five years, international cruise bookings from India have boomed at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 27%. This rapid growth means India is well on track to becoming the third-largest cruise source market by 2030, following the United States and China.
Factors Contributing to Cruise Tourism:
- Growing Middle Class – India’s growing middle class, especially the upper-middle have shown a considerable increment in their affluence and now comprise of over 30 million people – many of whom have the financial means to explore international cruising.
- Younger Demographics – The average age of Indian cruise travelers is 35-40, with a noticeable rise in younger passengers eager to try new and exciting travel experiences.
- Better Infrastructure – The expansion of port infrastructural facilities in Mumbai, Kochi, Goa, and Chennai is playing a crucial role in facilitating this sudden boom.
- Fly-Cruise Packages – More than 80% of Indian travelers prefer to choose the fly-cruise packages, which combine international flights with cruise bookings. This convenience has made cruise vacations a more lucrative option.
- Rise of Short-Distance Cruises – One of the major reasons for this surge has been that Indian tourists are particularly drawn to short-haul routes – Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. These destinations have gained popularity amongst Indian cruise travelers.
- Big names in the cruise industry, such as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), and MSC Cruises, are responding to the surge in demand by expanding their operations in India.
- These operators are keen to cater to the growing number of travelers, offering more itineraries and specialized packages designed to appeal to Indian tourists.
Geographically, India is tailor-made for promoting cruise travel – with over 7500 km of coastline and 110 navigable waterway paths, the figures justify the growing preference for this mode of travel. Currently, there are around 200 ports and over 1300 islands collectively, that can be explored and discovered. Heritage sites, tropical islands, calm river bodies and bustling coastlines – all can be fit into a single cruise map and are also operable throughout the year.
Not many nations have this distinct advantage. In order to leverage on this benefit and actively market cruise tourism amongst today’s population – the Indian government has relatively relaxed the visa rules, enabled digital customs and launched a single-window clearance system. The macro-objective – ‘Amrit Kaal Vision’ 2047 has been the underlying ideology for the tourism officials to focus extensively on this type of travel.
- If the promotion amongst population wasn’t suffice, the government also aims to invest $5.3 billion to develop almost 5000 km of river cruise routes – one of the largest projects in this category.
- At the 1st ever ASEAN-India Cruise Dialogue held recently in Chennai, the country pitched constructing a ‘Cruise Corridor’ across the Bay of Bengal, aiming for regional synergy from the other stakeholders and collectively boost the tourism sector.
India has in no time become the top destination for cruise tourism – be it booking domestic travel packages (Mumbai-Goa, Andaman Islands cruise, Kerala backwater cruise) or the international ones to Southeast Asian countries – the scope for this space to grow is vast and it has been multiplying at an exponential rate. The Indian government is already in continual talks with top international cruise lines – Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise Line, to have their expansion planned into India’s water terrains too, with the growing market space.
