PANJIM, NOV 19
Goa may be soon classified as the most well-connected State in the country if government’s attempt to have a cruise service on the Goa-Mumbai route succeeds.
The government has in-principle decided to start Goa-Mumbai cruise service, said an official. The steamer service for Goa-Mumbai was discontinued in 1990 whereas its replacement catamaran died a natural death as it failed to appeal to people.
However, the government now wants to start a cruise on Goa-Mumbai sea route once again which will be run on the public private partnership (PPP) mode.
“The government has decided in-principle to have cruise on Goa-Mumbai route and things will materialize in a few months time,” said the official.
But the question still remains will the cruise service attract people when Goa is well connected through air, rail and road?
“Why not? Market does exist which we need to revive — catamaran could not survive. People could not actually enjoy their sea voyage as they had to sit in one place for hours and it was most boring,” the official added.
Given the ground realities and the travel options to Mumbai at hand, the cruise services will have to dish out something special to stay afloat in the competition.
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