Silversea Cruises to launch Indian itinerary, 2006

Bhisham Mansukhani - Mumbai

Maarten Tromp Director of Sales and Marketing Emerging Markets

European luxury cruise company, Silversea Cruises is planning to launch an India itinerary in 2006, following the appointment of an Indian representative, Tirun Marketing. While the company's cruise liners have been docking at Goa and Mumbai for some time now, Maarten Tromp, director of sales and marketing, emerging markets, hopes to increase the number of Indians coming aboard. The company currently has four vessels. It is likely that Silversea's cruiseliner will find a berth in the cruise terminal being developed in the city.

The India itinerary will cover the entire coastline starting from Mumbai to Kolkata. "Our strategy has two dimensions to it. The first is to get Indians to experience luxury cruising as well as get international cruisers to see more of India. International cruise itineraries simply do not dedicate enough time to this country perhaps because there are some misgivings."

The cruiseliner is in talks with ITC hotels to provide an Indian dining experience. The company offers seven, ten and twelve day cruises world over and even offers personalised voyages. "We are quite satisfied with our alliance with Tirun Marketing as they are one of the first companies to enter this area in the country. They know the market and while they do have alliances with other cruises, it will not bother us, as we do not compete with each other as we have different products, cruising different sea-routes," Tromp said.