The Republic of India Ministry of External Affairs and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) co-hosted the India-IORA Cruise Tourism Conference with 10 Member States in attendance: Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. The event was held from 13-14 June 2024.
Key sessions covered included: Identifying business opportunities in the cruise tourism sector; Improving infrastructure, regulation and innovation; Promoting inclusion of women and sustainability in the sector; Environment protection and conservation; and Capacity building on best practice, experience sharing and information exchange to cross-fertilize ideas.
The Knowledge paper “Sailing to New Horizon” was launched an overview of the potential for growing the cruise tourism sector in the Indian Ocean region. In addition, several proposals were made by participants, including:
- explore visa agreements among IORA Member States to facilitate cruise movement
- explore new cruise circuits for IORA Member States
- develop an IORA vision to help decide strategies for cruise industry development in the region
- create a platform for Port Authorities of IORA Member States to share their good practices to attract cruises to their respective port
- hold an IORA cruise summit to develop opportunities for B2B and G2B engagement
- develop a trade event, with onshore and offshore actors attending the event, with cruise companies invited, together with suppliers of services for cruise tourism
- hold an event to explore promoting inclusion of women in the cruise tourism industry
- create an IORA network of Cruise Tourism stakeholders
- further discuss the impact of climate change on the cruise industry.
