Longest river cruise & a Himalayan break

The Assam Bengal Navigation Company, an Indo-British joint venture that operates the 300-km long river cruise on the Brahmaputra in Assam, has adopted a two-fold strategy to lure more inbound tourists to north-eastern India.

The company has developed packages that will club a visit to the snow-capped Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh and the dense forests of Assam along with the journey through one of the widest rivers in Asia, the Brahmaputra.

To offer these services, Assam Bengal is now planning to acquire one more luxury launch and is building two tourist cottages in the national forests of Kaziranga and Manas, both world heritage sites.

The director of Assam Bengal Navigation, Ashis Phukan, told Business Standard, that the Union ministry of tourism had shown special interest about its cruise, which was one of the longest river journeys in the world.

The Union Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury was scheduled to take the river cruise on board the 'RV Charaidew', the luxury launch of ABNC, later this month, but her trip stood cancelled.

"The Union tourism ministry has interest in the river cruise because this is something unique in India," he added.

According to Phukan, the cruise has received excellent response from overseas tourists, mainly from Europe and the United States.

The company started operation in November 2003 and since then has been consistently been fully booked. Inbound traffic came from Europe and the US.

"The ship has 12 luxury air-conditioned rooms and most have already been booked for the next season. This season also the vessel ran full. So the company has decided to acquire another luxury launch this year," he said.

Incidentally, the company is charging US $ 215 per day per person for the cruise.

The ABNC cruise runs from October to April every year. "It is not possible to operate during the rainy season because Brahmaputra turns so rough that it is too risky affair to operate a vessel," he admitted.

Phukan said the company was now offering two packages to tourists, one lasting seven days and another for fourteen days.

The first cruise was between Guwahati and Kaziranga and the second one between Kaziranga and Sivsagar via Majuli, the world's biggest riverine island.

"It has also been decided to club local north-eastern festivals like the hornbill festival in Nagaland and 'Buddha Purnima' in Arunachal with the cruise package to make it more colourful and attractive. Besides, the company has already acquired the tourist lodge in Manas and is in the process to set up one in Kaziranga," he added.