Trade Bytes

Kolkata tour operator offers religious package on cruise liner

Joy Roy Choudhury - Kolkata

The appeal of a a luxury cruise liner is spreading beyond the corporate world. A large group of Jain devotees from Kolkata and other parts of the country will hold a religious meet onboard a luxury cruise ship this year.

According to Shekhar Niyogi, executive director, TravelCorp, a Kolkata-based tour operator that is organising this unique event, a group of around 500 devotees will be flown to Singapore from where they will set sail for a week-long religious meeting along the South China Sea onboard a cruise liner. During the course of the journey the devotees will listen to lectures delivered by religious leaders, attend prayer meetings, satsang and religious discourses. A yagna has also been planned onboard.

“This group has been organising their annual religious meeting for the last few years in different parts of the country. A member of the group mooted the idea of a cruise and we readily accepted the proposal to make all the arrangements,” stated Niyogi. He further added, “It is a really challenging job. We have to book air-tickets for the 500-odd people and arrange for their passports, visas and hotel accommodation.” Logistics, according to Niyogi would be mind boggling. He informed that they were holding talks with foreign airlines to arrange for a charter flight. Niyogi refused to divulge the cruise liner or company selected for the event. “The dates of the journey will be finalised on the basis of the availability of the cruise ship,” he stated. Apart from a chef hired specially hired to serve traditional Jain meals, TravelCorp is also planning to organise short sightseeing tours during the journey along the eastern coast of Malaysia. “There are several unexplored tourist destinations on the eastern coast which we plan to visit during the course of the journey. But we will be spending the nights strictly onboard,” stated Niyogi.