Costa Cruises Doubles Presence in Asia
In 2009, Costa Classica to Join Costa Allegra in Asia for a Combined Total of
60 Cruises and 85,000 Berths
GENOA, ITALY - December 11, 2007 - Encouraged by the positive trend of its cruises in Asia, Costa Cruises will increase its presence by positioning a second cruise ship in the region, beginning in March 2009.
Costa Cruises, the leading cruise line in Italy and Europe, was the first international company to schedule regular cruises in China and Asia. Its operations began on July 2, 2006 with the Costa Allegra, which flies the Italian flag. A year and a half later, following the success of the product marketed both in China and internationally, Costa has decided to strengthen its presence in Asia from March 2009 onward with the deployment of a second ship - the 53,000 gross tonnage Costa Classica. With accommodations for 1,680 guests and 590 crewmembers, this refined and elegant vessel epitomizes Costa's signature Italian style and ambience for which it is known worldwide. With this second cruise ship in the Asian market, Costa will offer nearly 55,000 additional berths with a total of over 60 cruises, thus bringing its overall capacity in the region to 85,000 berths. Since Costa began operations in the Far East, more than 50,000 guests have sailed on the Costa Allegra on a total of approximately 100 cruises.
The Costa Allegra will offer 30 cruises from November 2008 through November 2009, some of which will be 14-day cruises, with departures from Hong Kong and Singapore on itineraries visiting some of the most exciting ports of call in the region. Meanwhile, the Costa Classica will be deployed from March 27 through November 7, 2009 on 33 cruises lasting between four and 14 days, with departures out of Singapore, Shanghai, Tianjin and Hong Kong on itineraries offering the finest destinations in several Asian countries.
As is currently the case, the product will be aimed both at the Chinese clientele,
who are responding to Costa's product in ever-increasing numbers, and to international
cruisers, including customers from other Asian countries, and Australia, where
Far East cruises have a special appeal.
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Costa Cruises Doubles Presence in Asia-2
Recently Costa Cruises in China gained two big recognitions from the market: "The Best Marketing Promotion Award" in GOLD LIST TRAVEL AWARD 2007 organized by TRAVELER and the "Top International Cruise Line Award" 2007 organized by World Traveller. This two awards demonstrate that Costa Cruises in China has a solid leadership in China market and it gained market and consumer's high recognition.
Before being positioned in Asia, the Costa Classica will complete her Mediterranean season on November 30, 2008, setting sail from Savona, Italy for the United Arab Emirates, where she will operate 11 seven-day cruises out of Dubai for the season. She will then depart for Singapore on a 19-day positioning cruise.
The 53,000 gross tonnage Costa Classica, which entered service in 1991, was built by Fincantieri at its Marghera shipyard (Venice) and refurbished in 2001. She is one of the most popular liners in the Costa fleet. The ship measures in at 220 meters in length, offers a total guest capacity of 1,680 and features 1,304 lower berths. She has 659 cabins including 10 suites, 2 swimmingpools and 4 Jacuzzi. The art collection of the ship includes masterpieces of the worldwide renowned artists Arnaldo Pomodoro and Emilio Tadini.
The 28,500 gross tonnage Costa Allegra entered service in 1992 and underwent
a substantial refit in March 2006 at an investment worth 12 million euros. The
ship's public areas are Italian in design and neoclassical in style. She is
known as the "crystal ship" due to her modern, airy architecture and
distinctive glass partition astern. The Costa Allegra offers a total guest capacity
of 1,000 and features 386 cabins and 13 suites, including 10 with private verandas.
Her facilities include three restaurants with Italian, international and Asian
specialties, five bars, two pools, a spa, theater, casino, disco and shopping
center featuring the best-known Italian designer labels.
Costa Crociere is an Italian cruise company which boasts 60 years of history
and is the market leader in Italy and across Europe. In 2007 Costa Crociere
carried a total of over 1,100,000 cruise Guests, a record for the European cruise
industry. Its fleet, Europe's largest and most advanced, has a total of 12 ships
in service and five on order, each with her own distinctive characteristics
and unique style. By 2012, the Costa fleet will be 17 strong with total Guest
capacity of approximately 36,800. All of the vessels fly the Italian flag and
sail to 250 destinations in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Baltic Sea,
the Caribbean, South America, the Arabian Gulf, the Far East and the Indian
Ocean. Costa Crociere has been certified by RINA (Italian Shipping Register)
with the BEST4, an integrated system of voluntary certification of corporate
compliance with the highest standards governing social accountability (SA 8000,
issued in 2001), environment (UNI EN ISO 14001, 1996), safety (OHSAS 18001,
1999) and quality (UNI EN ISO 9001, 2000). Costa Crociere is also an official
partner of the WWF for the protection of the marine ecoregions of the Mediterranean,
the Greater Antilles and Brazil.
The Costa Crociere S.p.A. Group also operates the brand AIDA Cruises, which
is the number one cruise company for the German market with four ships in service
and three on order, and the brand Iberocruceros, which is based in Spain with
two ships in service and one on order. All of the vessels of the Costa Crociere
Group fly the Italian flag. Crociere S.p.A. was ranked among the top 20 Italian
businesses on two special lists in 2007: the Mediobanca sales & profitability
ranking, which surveys over 3,600 Italian companies with revenue of at least
50 million euros, and Busacca & Associati's Observatory on competitiveness,
covering 1,600 enterprises.
Costa Crociere S.p.A. is the Italian subsidiary of Carnival Corporation &
plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE CUK), the world's largest cruise operator.
Costa Cruises Doubles Presence in Asia-3
TRAVELER is confounded by Trends Magazines (the leading consumer magazine publisher in China, runs 15 magazines targeting the high-end readership) and National Geographic Traveler (the flagship travel magazine of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational institution in the world, National Geographic Society, with circulation of 5.3 million per month around the world.) With the resource and experience of Trends Magazines and National Geographic Society, TRAVELER has been becoming a China national wild leading travel magazine, whose readership is relatively superior to the average level of Chinese high income group, in terms of educational background, individual & householder income, and occupation.
World Traveller is Founded in 2000, World Traveller's is China's only media group in the travel industry that incorporates TV , magazine (monthly circulation @ 300K), guidebook (cooperate with Discovery Channel -- the leading global media brand & APA -- the world's World's largest collection of s largest collection of visual Travel guides) , website and Member's Club. Providing Chinese travellers with professional and updated travel information, products and service around the world. Integrated the various media source ,World Traveller becoming a China national-wide leading travel media, whose readership is relatively superior to the average level of Chinese high income group, in terms of educational background, individual & householder income, and occupation.
Media Contact:
Costa Crociere S.p.A. Headquarters
Fabrizia Greppi
V.P. Corporate Communication
Phone: +39 010 5483903
greppi@costa.it
Davide Barbano
Press Officer
Phone: +39.0105483523
Mobile: +39.3346525216
barbano@costa.it
