32 Swiss tourists sign up for inaugural Varanasi-Dibrugarh cruise in Ganga

New Delhi, January 11

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MV Ganga Vilas, touted as the world’s longest river cruise, will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Varanasi in the morning of January 13 via video-conference.

MV Ganga Vilas will begin its journey from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and travel around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, sailing across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh. The vessel has three decks and 18 luxury suites on board with a capacity of hosting 36 guests. The maiden voyage has 32 tourists from Switzerland, signing up for the entire length of the journey.

62 metres long vessel

12 metres wide

3 decks

18 luxury suites 

The cruise has been curated to bring out the best in the route to be showcased to the guests. The 51-day cruise is planned with visits to 50 tourist spots, including world heritage sites, national parks, river ghats and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Guwahati in Assam.

The journey will give the tourists exposure to the art, culture, history and spirituality of India and Bangladesh. “In line with PM’s endeavour to boost river cruise tourism, the huge untapped potential of river cruise will get unlocked with the launch of the service and it will herald a new age of river cruise tourism for India,” a press release issued by the Ministry of Shipping said.

The Ministry of Culture would organise five programmes at diffident locations for entertaining the tourists aboard MV Ganga Vilas. The cultural events would be held at Bihar Museum, Patna; Hazarduari Palace, Murshidabad; Victoria Memorial, Kolkata; State Museum, Guwahati, and Majuli Island. On Friday the PM would also inaugurate Tent City at Varanasi via video-conference. Tent City has been developed opposite ghats to provide accommodation to tourists in view of the increase in their arrival numbers. Tourists will reach the Tent City by boats from different ghats of Varanasi. Developed by Varanasi Development Authority in PPP mode, the Tent City will be operational from October to June every year. — TNS

51-day trip

• MV Ganga Vilas will travel around 3,200 km in 51 days
• Starting from Varanasi (UP), it will reach Dibrugarh (Assam) via Bangladesh
• Will sail across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh