Antara Cruises is a family-run line that operates luxury cruises on India's Ganga, Padma and Brahmaputra rivers and has worked to advance the country's river cruise industry since its launch in 2009. Speaking with editor Brinley Hineman at the ASTA River Cruise Expo in Amsterdam, chief inspiration officer Arjun Sinsinwar described how Antara is able to give travelers a view of India that few experience.
Arjun Sinsinwar
Q: Antara is a member of Regenerative Travel, an organization that promotes sustainable and responsible travel. How do you bring that ethos to the industry?
A: We're a local family business. We design and build the ships ourselves. The idea is that through cruising, we're not only having economic contribution with local crew and local ships in these places but also helping to maintain a positive contribution to the work going on. We believe in empowering our communities who are part of our crew and people. The idea is, how do we use tourism as a positive vehicle to regenerate? How can we create this story, this narrative, that changes what river cruising means? It's not just a physical ship that sails you through. It's a key to unlocking these transformational journeys where you see history and heritage come alive.
Q: You spoke at Northstar's CruiseWorld event last November, where you were able to share your pitch directly with travel advisors. What was your message to the trade?
A: I think, for the first time, it's really been put on the radar that India's sacred rivers are emerging as this next frontier of global river cruising, which it hasn't been thought of before. I think many times people have thought about, say, the Nile and Egypt and Vietnam and Cambodia and the Mekong and, of course, India is right there in the middle. It's one of the world's oldest living civilizations.
Q: How does India differ from those destinations you mention?
A: The difference between India's rivers and those rivers is that [India's] are untouched by commercialization, untouched by modernity. But also the idea is that you're cruising through living history and heritage. These are wild rivers. So these are not tame. There's only one lock on one of the rivers, but otherwise they're wild. They flood seasonally. There's different natural challenges. India has a heritage in terms of poetry, literature, architecture, astronomy, living in proximity to nature, those natural cycles. And so that feeds into the reverence of the monsoon, the wildlife experiences which are there. Because of all of that, I think that has given people something to pin on and say, 'Actually, India. India has river cruising.'
Q: The untouched aspect of Indian river cruising would certainly be a draw to some. What is that like?
A: You're sailing through landscapes and don't see any other ship for days. You're not walking through another ship to get off [your ship]. What I would say is that India, and what people love about it, is the beauty of history and culture but also serendipity. The idea is that you are traveling somewhere where things don't work like clockwork. And that's the beauty and grace of traveling, that you will have chance encounters. You will have unique moments of transformation, of inspiration, of festivals, of lights, of colors.
Q: Viking plans to begin sailing on the Brahmaputra in 2027. Do you welcome the competition?
A: I'm for the destination. So my passion is that India should be redefined as a world-class, sustainable and immersive river cruise destination.