Ganga Vilas, the world's longest river cruise, will be launched on January 13 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The starting point of the cruise will be Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh which will end in Dibrugarh, Assam. The journey will cover 3,200 km in 51 days and pass through 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh. The West Coast Canal, Brahmaputra, and Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly are among these rivers.
The cruise was supposed to start in 2020 and has been advertised since 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic, on the other hand, caused the project to be delayed.?
The MV Ganga Vilas cruise is designed to showcase the nation's best aspects to the world. The 51-day cruise is scheduled to visit 50 popular tourist destinations, including major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Guwahati in Assam, It will also show World Heritage Sites, National Parks, and the river Ghats.
The MV Ganga Vilas itinerary includes stops at places of historical, cultural, and religious significance to highlight India's rich heritage. It will depart from Varanasi's renowned "Ganga Arti" and stop at Sarnath, a Buddhist pilgrimage site of great reverence.?
It will also cover Majuli, the largest river island in Assam and the centre of Vaishnavite culture, and Mayong, which is famous for its Tantric crafts. The tourists will also have the opportunity to take in India's spiritual and educational heritage at the Bihar School of Yoga and Vikramshila University.?
The cruise will also pass through Kaziranga National Park, home to one-horned rhinos, and Sunderbans, a biodiversity-rich World Heritage Site in the Bay of Bengal delta.?
Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush emphasized the importance of expanding river cruise tourism in the country and stated that expanding this industry would provide employment opportunities in the hinterland. In order to increase the capacity for the country's booming river cruise tourism, the government is investing capital.?
He said that the river tourism circuits would be built and incorporated into the already-existing tourism circuits to give this industry as much exposure as possible and help it expand quickly in the country.
It is the first cruise service of its kind and the success of this service, which received support from the Ministry of Shipping, Ports, and Waterways (MoPSW)'s Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), is likely to inspire business owners to explore river cruises in other parts of the country.
Over the past few years, the global market for river cruises has expanded at a rate of 5% and is anticipated to account for 37% of the cruise market by 2027. According to PIB, ¡°Europe has been driving growth with over 60% share of river cruise vessels in the world. In India, 8 river cruise vessels are operational between Kolkata and Varanasi while cruise movement is also operation on National Waterways 2 (Brahmaputra).¡±
Many locations in India offer tourist activities like river rafting, camping, sightseeing, kayaking etc. The construction of ten passenger terminals across NW2 is currently underway, increasing the likelihood of river cruises.?
In NW2, four river cruise ships are currently in operation, with limited service in NW3 (West Coast Canal), NW8, NW4, NW87, and NW97. The river cruise is expected to expand further with systematic forward and backward linkage for the economy, particularly across river banks, as capital expenditure is pumped to build capacity in inland waterways.