India to Promote Sea and Coastal Tourism

To explore the opportunities in Coastal Tourism, the Shipping and Tourism Ministry may soon set up a committee that will think of strategies to promote cruises and sea sports, the government of India said.

The Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya and  Minister of State for Tourism & Culture, Prahlad Singh Patel discussed  the immense potential for  maritime tourism in the country.

In a  meeting between the two Ministers held in New Delhi yesterday, the two  ministers  emphasised  the need to promote the important tourist destinations in the coastal areas of the country through coastal tourism, said government press release.

"It was decided in the meeting to set up a committee of senior officials of the two Ministries to explore the avenues for coastal tourism  in the country and work out ways to promote the same. It was also  decided to explore  the possibilities and opportunities in the areas of  Coastal Tourism, Cruise Tourism, Sea Sports, Light House Viewing Gallery.  It was suggested that every coastal area can create a calendar of events for  tourist engagement, with activities like beach volleyball, sand art, food festivals, dances of the fishing community, to name a few," said the release.

The Shipping Ministry is promoting tourism in maritime states under the Sagarmala Programme. This is being done in convergence with the Ministry of Tourism and Tourism Development Departments of maritime state governments.

These new, unexplored tourism areas will open a door to coastal communities of the maritime states where they will find many new and diverse job opportunities. In the coming years, coastal and maritime tourism will be a source for growth and job creation in the coastal states of India.

The two Ministers  also underscored the need  for better coordination and synergy between their respective Ministries so that desired results can be achieved in a time bound manner.