Vizag poised to find place on global cruise tourism map soon

Visakhapatnam: With the deadline cutshort, the authorities of Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) are working day and night to make the proposed International Marine Cruise Terminal here operational next year.

VPA Chairman K Rama Mohana Rao said they are confident of completing the work on a fast-track mode with release of funds for the prestigious project, the first of its kind on the East Coast in a year's time. The outlay for the project was revised from Rs 70 crore to Rs103 crore with the Union Government earmarking funds under the Sagarmala Mission.

During his visit, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy reduced the schedule for completion of the project from 24 to 12 months. The grounding of the project got stuck due to lockdowns and curbs imposed to control Covid-19 pandemic. With the conditions improving, the VPA officials are exuding confidence that the construction work will be over as per the revised schedule.

The terminal will have a passenger lounge, immigration centre, multi-cuisine restaurant and a duty-free shop with adequate parking space. The design was finalised after sending port teams to Mumbai, Kochi and Goa to study their success in cruise tourism. At present, a passenger ship is under operation from Visakhapatnam to Port Blair, which mostly ferries workers from Odisha and AP for employment in the islands.

The project once operational with a capacity for berthing of cruise liners carrying 2,000 to 2,500 passengers will become a reality putting Visakhapatnam on the international cruise map. With a panoramic view of the city, its golden beaches and green-capped hills, it is expected to attract domestic as well as foreign passengers. About 100 American and European tourists, who came on a brief visit to the city in a Star cruise liner, sometime ago admitted that the city with Buddhist sites located on the 30-km beach stretch from the city to 17th century Dutch township of Bheemilipatnam has the scope to become an international tourism spot.

Incidentally, the undivided Visakhapatnam district known for tribal habitations on the foothills of Eastern Ghats, the coffee gardens in Araku and Ananthagiri valleys, the million year old Borra Caves had attracted 1.7 crore tourists including 35,000 foreigners in 2021 notwithstanding the pandemic. Before the onset of Covid, the district had drawn 2.5 crore tourists in 2019. The State Government has proposals to allow construction of an international convention centre and a five star deluxe hotel at Shilparamam, Madhurawada, develop London Eye-type mega giant wheel with a height of 125 metres with photography equipment to provide tourists photos once they exit and a sky tower in the park atop Kailasagiri Hill and create a Buddhist circuit to make this part of Andhra Pradesh a tourist hub.

MV Maa, a Bangladeshi cargo ship, which ran aground following cyclonic weather near a park on the beachfront is being converted into a floating restaurant by AP Tourism Development Corporation. Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Development Authority is also in an advanced stage of completing work on a Sea Harrier Museum. The beach road is popular for major tourist attractions like INS Kursura Submarine Museum and TU 142 Aeroplane Museum.