KERALA TOURISM NEWSLETTER
Boat race organized for cruise ship passengers
Following the keen interest of Regent Seven Seas Cruises (RSSC), a shipping company with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale in the United States of America, a snakeboat race was conducted for its passengers in the first week of November on the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha on November 4. Named ‘The Voyager Trophy Boat Race’ the race was held primarily for the 600 odd travellers from U.S.A. who visited Kerala on the
Seven Seas Voyager, a luxury ship of the RSSC. Public other than the cruise ship passengers also witnessed the snakeboat race and the whole event also had cultural programmes as added attraction.
The Alappuzha District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) coordinated the boat race held on Punnamada, which had the participation of snakeboats (chundan vallams) including the current holder of the Nehru Trophy - Champakkulam Chundan. This was the first time a boat race was being organised just for tourists. This is going to be a milestone in the growth of the tourism scenario of Alappuzha - the 'Venice of the East.'
The cruise ship
‘Seven Seas Voyager’ which began its journey from Dubai on October 24, touched Al Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah, before arriving at Kochi on November 4. The passengers of the ship had heard of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race in Alappuzha through the media, and expressed an interest in watching a similar regatta.
