Cruise Season Begins: Mangalore Tourism Gets Boost as Heli Services Will Start From November 12

Cruise Season Begins: Mangalore Tourism Gets Boost as Heli Services Will Start From November 12

November 5: The cruise season began and New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) Chairman A V Ramana said 24 cruise vessels had confirmed their visit to NMP and a few more were in the pipeline. Normally, cruise season begins in the month of November and extends up to March. More cruises arrive in December and January, he added.
With the commencing of cruise season, ‘Aida Vita’ from Panama became the first luxury cruise ship to berth at New Mangalore Port (NMP) on Monday. AIDAvita, the luxurious cruise has arrived from Dubai via Goa and has reached Mangaluru on November 4. The ship will sail off to Cochin in the night of November 4. Then it will proceed to Maldives and Sri Lanka.

There were 1,154 passengers and 407 crew on-board the cruise ship. The port authorities and agents welcomed the passengers. Passengers at the cruise lounge were welcomed by traditional Yakshagana, ‘Pili Vesha’, ‘Kangeelu’ and colourful doll artistes. About 400 to 500 passengers visited tourist destinations in the surrounding areas, including Kudroli Gokarnanatha Temple and cashew factory at  Baikampady.
To facilitate a hassle-free movement of cruise passengers NMPT  plans to create a dedicated road and a new gate within the port premises. The plan envisages connecting the dedicated road from the cruise lounge to the proposed new gate to manage cruise traffic.
NMP will launch heli services for cruise passengers from November 12. Private operator Chipson Aviation will fly the high-end tourists arriving in the port to Bekal Fort in Kasargod, Thousand Pillar Basadi in Moodbidri and Sringeri Temple in Chikkamagaluru district.

The port has created two helipads for this purpose. Chipson Aviation will operate a five-seater helicopter while talks are underway with another operator which has a 15-seater helicopter.