After almost after two years, the New Mangaluru Port (NMP) has begun handling cruise vessels once again.

Cruise traffic in NMP has a history of 20 years. It began with one vessel in 2002-03. As it grew, between 2017-18 and 2019-20, the port handled an average of 24 vessels in a year.

During 2022-23, the port handled 2,095 passengers in five vessels. A look at the cruise traffic at New Mangaluru Port for the past 10 years shows that the number of vessels calling at the port had reached a maximum of 28 in 2016-17.

Vathika Pai, Chairperson on the sub-committee on tourism in Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, sees the calling of cruise liners at NMP post-Covid as an encouraging sign. Stating that more than 25 vessels were calling at the port in the pre-Covid days, she said, it was a big number for the region.

Boosting local economy

Highlighting the importance of its impact on the local economy, she said NMP had handled more than 30,000 passengers in 2016-17, and it remained with more than 20,000 passengers for quite a few years. Considering that a cruise traveller spends a minimum of $10-20 during his/her visit to Mangaluru, the number translates to a spending of quite a sizeable amount.

Giridhar Prabhu, Chairman of Achal Cashews Pvt Ltd, said the cruise tourists are also given a tour of a cashew factory in Mangaluru. According to him, the heaviest consumption of cashew happens in countries such as US, UK and most of European nations, and cruise tourists come from these countries to visit the cashew factory.

On the reasons for including a cashew factory in their tour plan, he said cashew manufacturing in an organised, factory set-up does not happen in their countries, though they are the major consumers. Hence, it is added as a part of business tourism, he said.

Terming coastal Karnataka region as an unexplored destination for many foreign travellers, Vathika Pai said that when tourists visit other cruise destinations, they don’t get the time to explore whole city in the limited time allotted to them. Here they are able to see a lot in a single day.