Scenic Group announces first India river cruise programme

Scenic Group has announced its first river cruise programme in India, with Scenic Aura to be deployed on the Hooghly River from 2027.

The group said the India launch marks a “significant expansion” of Scenic’s luxury river cruise and land touring portfolio as its Asia expansion “gathers pace”.

For the 2027-2028 season, Scenic Aura will carry 44 guests on all-inclusive river cruises through West Bengal.

The programme combines a nine-night Lower Ganges cruise with land journeys across India and Sri Lanka, with five new itineraries ranging from 17 to 25 days.

Spanning North India, South India, Rajasthan and Sri Lanka, the collection brings together river cruising, luxury hotels, internal transport, guided touring, Scenic Enrich experiences and Scenic Freechoice excursions.

Adam Burke, Scenic journey designer for Asia, said: “The introduction of Scenic Aura on India’s Hooghly River is a significant milestone for Scenic Group.

“These journeys have been created around the kind of meaningful, culturally rich and deeply immersive travel experiences our guests are increasingly asking for.”

Scenic Aura will be redesigned to create an “intimate boutique ship experience”, with further interior details to be released later this year.

The new India and Sri Lanka journeys are now available through an early-access release, with further itinerary details and updated pricing to be confirmed later this year.

Further developments in Asia will follow in 2028, including Scenic Spirit II joining Scenic Spirit on the Mekong River; Scenic Eclipse II returning to Asia; and Oceania and Emerald Xara arriving in Asia.

Nichola Absalom, managing director sales and marketing UK, added: “This launch represents another important step in Scenic Group’s long-term investment in Asia, a region where we continue to see strong growth across both river and ocean cruising.

“By expanding into India, we’re opening up a destination that offers extraordinary depth of culture, history and spirituality, while creating new opportunities for our trade partners to tap into the growing appetite for extended, experience-led luxury travel.”

More: Scenic Group to add three new river ships to fleet by 2028