Mumbai might just see a larger influx of international tourists to its shores, as Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan revealed plans of setting up an international cruise terminal in the city’s port. Speaking at the convention of Indian Association of Tour Operators in Mumba, the CM said that his government would be sending a proposal to the Centre for the current passenger terminal’s expansion so that Mumbai port could be a stop-over destination for international cruise ships.
This is in a bid to attract tourists from USA and Europe, who otherwise end up going to Singapore and Malaysia.
“We have been getting a lot of requests from tour operators for setting up a cruise terminal in Mumbai so that thousands of passengers who want to use these services do not have to go to other countries.” Chavan added.
The challenges in setting up an international cruise terminal will be in getting the various clearances from the Indian Navy, the Coast Guard and the Mumbai Port Trust, especially because the Defence Ministry has given the navy and coast guard strict instructions to be extra careful while allowing movement of international ships close to Indian waters.

Unlike Cargo ships which are easy to monitor as they hover about the coast for days before docking, cruise ships need a lot more scrutiny as they ferry thousands of passengers to the mainland and dock for very short periods.
In 2011, Mumbai received the maximum number of tourists coming from international destinations, mainly because most use Mumbai airport as the gateway to the country. With the setting up of an International cruise terminal, that number will just increase.