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INS Viraat to become floating hotel
On the directions of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the Tourism Department officials have prepared a preliminary report to convert INS Viraat into be a floating luxury hotel and planned its anchorage on the coast between Rushikonda and Bheemili.
Visakhapatnam: If the tourism department plans are through, INS Viraat will be seventh floating hotel in the country after Taj Lake Palace hotel in Udaipur, The Floatel, Kolkata, AB Celestial, Mumbai, Mumtaz Palace Houseboat, Srinagar, Poovar Island Resort, Trivandrum and Emarald Pristine Island, Alappuzha.
On the directions of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the Tourism Department officials have prepared a preliminary report to convert INS Viraat into be a floating luxury hotel and planned its anchorage on the coast between Rushikonda and Bheemili.
The floating hotel will be the biggest attraction to the tourists both domestic and foreign. The officials started groundwork to identify the suitable agency to prepare a project report to convert the air-craft carrier as floating hotel.Sources in the tourism department said INS Viraat is likely to be decommissioned by the end of 2016 after completing 55 years of service, including 27 years of service with the Royal Navy (British) as HMS Hermes and 28 years with Indian Navy.
The Ship is likely to be handed over to the Andhra Pradesh government by mid-2017 for conversion into a floating hotel which will also have a convention centre and museum.Executive Director of the AP Tourism Development Corporation P Sriramulu Naidu told The Hans India that he would submit his preliminary report soon to the government for making a floating hotel out of the decommissioned vessel.
It would be viable for AP government if the project was launched under PPP mode As the vessel requires Rs 150 crore for annual maintenance, he said. The inflow of tourists will be depending on the facilities (such as casino on board, luxury bar, adventure options and sporting facilities) in the ship.
The State government is yet to take any concrete decision on the location for anchoring the ship, but the ship is likely to be anchored into the sea between Rushikonda and Bheemili and speed boats could. Be used from the ship for sea cruise, another officer said. “Floating hotel will be viable only if casino facility is added on the lines of the floating hotel in Goa, ‘’ said a popular tour operator.
