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Costa Crociere S.p.A. stands out in the survey of leading Italian companies carried out by Mediobanca’s Research Unit, comprising over 3,700 Italian enterprises that recorded revenue of at least 50 million euros last fiscal year. According to the findings of the survey, the Italian cruise company has further improved its business performance.
65th in size, with sales of 2.3 billion euros in 2008 (it was ranked 72nd the year before), Costa Crociere is in 10th place in terms of profitability, with net income of 402 million euros (compared to 12th place in the previous edition of the survey). Costa Crociere is the only cruise company included in the Mediobanca survey and ranks as the leading travel company.
At present the Costa Crociere S.p.A. Group has a total of 23 ships in service (14 for Costa Cruises, 6 for AIDACruises and 3 for Iberocruceros) with another 7 due to be delivered by 2012 (3 for Costa Cruises, 3 for AIDACruises and 1 for Iberocruceros). All Costa Cruises and Aida ships fly the Italian flag.
The Costa Deliziosa, the new “diamond” of the Costa Cruises fleet, which is currently being fitted out at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard, will enter service in January 2010. The arrival of the Costa Deliziosa (92,600 gross tonnage and 2,826 Total Guests) will enable the Italian cruise company to double its top of the range offer. Together with her sister ship Costa Luminosa, christened on June 5 this year, the Costa Deliziosa will be the most exclusive and innovative member of the fleet.
The Group’s growth in 2008 was driven by the performance of the Costa Cruises brand, which ended the year with around 1.2 million total Guests, confirming its position as Italy’s largest tourism group and Europe’s number 1 cruise company.
The economic growth recorded in 2008 was accompanied by the commitment to social and environmental responsibility, particularly with regard to the Costa Cruises brand.
Costa Cruises was the first cruise company in the world to draft and issue a Sustainability Report; this is a purely voluntary form of reporting and its aim is to build trust based on transparent dissemination of the main results in the fields of social accountability and environmental compliance; the relevant initiatives include Costa’s 3-year partnership with WWF involving active support for a project to set up a network of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean.
In November Costa Cruises is publishing the fourth edition of its Sustainability Report (for FY 2008). The highlights include a 5% reduction in fuel consumption per mile sailed; a 5% reduction in consumption of potable water per person; 30% (273,458 kg) of special waste recycled; 2126 m3 of glass and aluminum recycled; and an 8.5% reduction in garbage.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
