Cruises on growth spree in India

NEW DELHI - Of the 35,000 Indians that took a cruise holiday in 2002, 85 percent headed towards Southeast Asia.

Trends indicate that three-cruise nights are the most popular vacation packages with Indians.

The upmarket segment generally heads to the Caribbeans, Scandinavia or Mediterranean waters A market observer said the cruise market in India was growing at around 20 percent per year. As a result major international cruise companies have set up marketing representations in India.

Star Cruises recorded a 25 percent growth last year. Marketing manager, Naresh Rawal was quoted saying: “India is among the top five countries after Singapore, Thailand, China, the Philippines in terms of passenger traffic on SuperStar Leo and SuperStar Virgo.”