Indians work on high seas but yet to take a cruise | Goa News … – Times of India

Panaji: The country may be responsible for 30% of the global staff for the international cruise sector but as a contributor towards cruise passenger volumes, India comes behind China and Taiwan, contributing just 6% of cruise passengers. There were 1.26 lakh Indians who took a cruise vacation in 2016, making India the sixth largest Asian market for the sector.

While average age for Asian tourists stood at 45 years, young Indians in the 37-year-old age bracket went on cruise vacation, said a report by Cruise Lines International Association, the worlds largest cruise industry trade assoction.

But cruise liners expect more people taking vacation on board their ships due to growing middle class with disposable income. Here in India, the market has started developing slowly and maybe with time they may think that this is much more viable than land based vacations. I think India is going to be a growing market, Apollo Group senior director Othmar Hehli told TOI.

I would imagine that in the next 10 years there will be more Indians travelling, because typically the biggest countries contribute the most people. With 1.2 billion people and with a younger population earning and a growing middle class, there will be growth, Hehli said.

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Indians work on high seas but yet to take a cruise | Goa News ... - Times of India