The season's first international cruise ship arrived in Goa at Mormugao port on Wednesday with 651 passengers and 452 crew members. This ship is expected to set off for Colombo, Sri Lanka on Wednesday, late evening.
With 651 passengers arriving in Goa on an international cruise ship, Goan tourism stakeholders will surely benefit enormously – be it cab drivers, shops, etc.
The international cruise ship MV Vikings Mars left Norway and then sailed to Dubai and then further on to Mumbai. On Wednesday, the ship along with the passengers arrived in Goa for a full day’s stay, and later in the evening this ship will sail down to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
On their arrival at the Mormugao cruise terminal, the guests were welcomed in a grand traditional manner by playing the dhol and tasha, local percussion instruments. Goan women wearing traditional attire applied tilaks on the foreheads of the guests and showered flower buds on them.
Meanwhile, Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar said that for this year's tourism season more than 60 cruise ships are expected at Mormugao port. These cruise ships will give employment and business to the local stakeholders involved in tourism. He also said that the cruise ships which make a shorter halt at Mormugao port should stay for at least three days. This will give the guests enough time to explore Goa and will generate more business revenue for Goans.
It may be recalled that in September a domestic cruise ship Cordelia Empress arrived at the Mormugao harbour cruise terminal from Mumbai. A total of 785 domestic passengers had come to Goa on this cruise ship.