Puducherry will emerge as a major centre for cruise tourism in near future

On May 27, 2008, Puducherry Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said “Around five million foreign tourists had visited India in 2007 which was a big jump from the 3.92 million tourists during the previous year. Around 400 million domestic tourists had also travelled across different parts of the country during 2007.”

After declaring the Rs 35 crore 'Zest Big Beach-Puducherry' a project of the Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Limited (MHRIL) at Manapet coastal village she was speaking about the improvement of Puducherry as tourism destination.

"We should work together to make Puducherry as a major destination as was done in respect of Sikkim and Goa and other destinations. In the near future Puducherry would emerge as a centre for cruise tourism. Around 74 heritage sites had been identified in Puducherry and we should look at the best of them for promotion and restoration for the benefit of the people here", she said.

The Auroville International Project and Sri Aurobindo Ashram here were adding to richness, the legacy and also full-fledged projection of Puducherry as a destination.
She also added, "There had been lot of questions and eager enquiries about Auroville in different parts of the world from information seekers as they want to visit Auroville to have a new experiment in India"

“Puducherry will emerge in the near future as a major centre for cruise tourism and efforts to promote this project would be intensified in collaboration with the Union Shipping Ministry”