VISAKHAPATNAM:
Super luxury yacht cruises
would be the latest attraction to add to the
Vizag tourism circuit
, if all goes according to the plan, from October.
The
city of destiny
is already the top tourist destination of the state and also attracts a large number of budget tourists from Odisha, Bengal etc. The Andhra Pradesh government is now keen on placing Vizag on the global tourist map by promoting luxury and leisure tourism, targeting the high-end vacationers.
Towards this end, the state tourism officials had even organised a yacht festival at Vizag this year in March with an estimated budget of Rs 3 crore to “position Vizag as the holiday destination befitting the yachting enthusiasts.”
Despite the event receiving a tepid response in terms of bookings, plans were afoot to have a few
yachts
permanently stationed at Vizag shore.
“Two companies have come forward to operate two yachts each from October. We want to accommodate them at the Passenger Jetty but if any issue arises, we plan to give them space at the Channel Berth,” Visakhapatnam Port Trust chairman MT Krishna Babu told ToI.
Babu says that their agenda is to promote cruise tourism at Vizag as per the wishes of shipping-ports minister Nitin Gadkari and chief minister Chandrababu Naidu.
“That is why we are not keen on a revenue share for we want to first encourage whoever is coming with yachts,” the port official said, adding that all that they would charge is the berth rent of Rs 1200 to Rs 2400 per yacht per day, depending on size.
“The rent prescribed is also not heavy since we want the operators to pass on the benefits to the holidaymakers by keeping the yachting costs at Rs 10 to 15 thousand per hour,” Babu said.
One of the two adventurous tourism companies is E-Factor, which had organised the Yacht Festival. “We are in discussions with the port authorities. Once we have all the approvals and registrations in place, which I think would take a month or so, we plan to start the yachting services sometime in October,” said Samit Garg, CEO of E-Factor. “We would begin with two yachts and plan to gradually expand based on the reception.”
Sunrise cruise, leisure idling on sea, cruise to places like Bheemili and even Puri are some of the options of yachting from Vizag being deliberated, Garg says.
District tourism officials said that they are unaware of the negotiations between the VPT and the yachting companies, but maintained that yachts berthed here would add allure to Vizag tourism scene.