Bhubaneswar: In what could come as a big boost to tourism in Odisha, Monaco-based luxury cruise liner Silversea Cruises will dock at Paradip port this month during its sojourn in India.
During the time it remains anchored at the port, the tourists will visit the ancient Buddhist heritage site at Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitput in Jajpur district.
The visit of a luxury cruise liner to the shores of Odisha will be almost after a gap of 15 years. During a high-level on Thursday, Secretary Tourism Vishal Dev and other senior officials from the Forest Department assured of all possible assistance to make the visit a success, Travel Link founder Benjamin Simon told Odisha Bytes. The agency was instrumental in promoting Odisha among officials of the cruise liner.
The 120-guest cruise ship in its 14 night Asia expedition voyage, will reach Chennai shortly. Its voyage in India will cover Vishakpatnam, Sundarbans, Mahehkhali island, St. Martin Island (Bangladesh), Ngapali beach, Rakhine state, Mawlamyine&Hpa and Port Yazar in Yangoon in Myanmar.
The ship will dock at Paradip port on the 70th Republic Day on January 26.
Since its inception in the early 1990s, Silversea Cruises has been recognised as the gold standard in luxury cruising, acclaimed both for its legendary European lifestyle and global reach of destinations. Today, Silversea Cruises operates a global portfolio of itineraries to all seven continents and over 900 destinations worldwide.
During its trip to Odisha, the liner was keen to include Gopalpur so that tourists could have had a scope of enjoying the charm of Asia’s largest brackish water Chila Lake and witness the migratory bird, Irawadi dolphins and the Oliv Ridley turtles. The Gopalpur port, therefore, needs to come forward and welcome this new segment of business, he underscored.
In early 1980s, the first cruise vessel from USA had come to Odisha. It was followed by few other European cruise liner in the late 1990s and early 2000. However, the continuity of the port of call could not be maintained as there was expansion work of the national highways and traffic congestion which could have put the tourists into inconvenience, Simon said.
