Luxury Cruise liner MV COSTA NEO CLASSICA arrived at Mormugao Port with 1222 high end guests and a crew of 575 to the state. This is the 6th cruise liner to dock at Mormugao port during the current cruise tourism season. Three more cruise liners are expected to visit the Port during the month of December. A Traditional Goan welcome greeted the visiting guests at the cruise berth terminal with the Officials of the Goa Tourism and Development Corporation and Port officials present. Rich and colourful cultural pageantry was on display to give the visiting guests a glimpse of our East-West culture.
The high end guests visiting Goa hail from Italy (432), France (166), India (102), Spain (81), Russia (43) and other nationalities. The Immigration Bureau extended E-Visa clearance facilities on landing at the cruise terminal to 77 visitors. The operation of the Immigration counter for E-Visa facility as well as the FOREX and Pre-paid Taxi counters at the cruise terminal has received lot of praise from all the stakeholders in the cruise tourism circuit which saves time for all concerned with the service being prompt and efficient.
The Port Authorities on their part is extending all assistance and logical support to the Shipping Agents M/s. J.M. Baxi & Co., and the all other stakeholders servicing the cruise liner sector in supporting the efforts of the MOS and the Goa Government to attract more cruise traffic in future to the State.
The visitors were taken for a sight-seeing tour of Goa’s famous tourists locations of churches, temples, beaches in the north and south Goa, spice gardens, Panjim city etc. The ground arrangement for sight-seeing tours was handled by the main operator M/s. International Travel Bureau. Luxury coaches and tourists taxis were at the disposal of the visiting guests to take them around sight-seeing in Goa. Besides several visiting guests were seen exploring the port town on foot and patronising local commercial establishments.
The cruise liner sailed to Mumbai Port with the guests later in the evening after a satisfying visit to the State of Goa.
