Costa Cruises celebrates 1 million bookings in 2007

With its 1 millionth guest booking in 2007, Costa Cruises has achieved an historic record never before attained in the company’s 60-year history, and a record which is unprecedented in Europe. T

The millionth guest is an Italian family who will be fêted during the celebrations to mark the event in October. Costa Cruises is now heading towards another ambitious milestone, 1.5 million guests in 2010.

The Italian cruise line Costa Cruises, the market leader in Europe and South America, has set a new historic record: one million guests have booked a cruise on board its ships in 2007. This is a first not only for the company, which has never before in its 60-year history had so many passengers in a 12-month period, but also for the European cruise industry as a whole.

Costa Cruises’ one millionth guest in 2007 booked a Costa cruise on July 17. The guest is an Italian family who will be at the centre of Costa Cruises’ celebrations planned for the month of October.

The historic achievement will be also celebrated by Costa Cruises worldwide over the next few days with toasts on board its 12 ships and in the company’s 28 offices, the event being marked by a specially selected limited edition Prosecco Aneri Magnum. A further 10,000 commemorative bottles will be sent to the company’s partners.

“Our one millionth customer is an historic achievement and one that fills us with immense pride,” commented Costa Cruises Chairman & CEO Pier Luigi Foschi.

“For us this is testimony to the fact that 1 million guests have rewarded our passion, the quality and excellence o our work, and the competence and solidity that our company alone possesses, with its 60 years of experience in the cruise business.

“I would like to thank all our employees, our guests and our partners for making this feat possible. Costa Cruises’ growth plan doesn’t stop here. We have our sights set on ambitious new objectives: we aim to boost the number of our guests by 50% in just three years, to reach the 1.5 million mark in 2010.”

One million guests is a highly significant statistic for the cruise industry as a whole, which in 2006 clocked up 12.12 million cruisers worldwide, including 3.4 million Europeans.

Costa Cruises thereby confirms its role as a key player in the industry. In the last ten years the Italian operator has more than tripled its number of customers, from 350,000 in 1997 to one million reservations recorded in just eight months this year.

This growth has been supported by a fleet expansion programme with the introduction of 11 ships in 11 years (from 2000 to 2010) and an investment worth around 4.5 billion euros. Seven of these vessels were or will be built in Italy by Fincantieri, at a total cost of almost 3.5 billion euros.

Costa Cruises’ fleet is currently 12 strong; all of the vessels fly the Italian flag, with total guest capacity of approximately 23,200 in dual occupancy cabins. Three more ships have been commissioned from Fincantieri. By 2010, when the last of these new ships is delivered, the Costa fleet will have 15 members and total capacity of around 30,800 passengers in dual occupancy cabins, confirming its status as Europe’s largest and most advanced.

In addition, in the last couple of years Costa Cruises has introduced a series of unrivalled itineraries further enhancing its offer, which now stretches almost right round the world, from the Americas to Asia: it is the first operator to market cruises departing from China, Dubai and Mauritius. Costa Cruises presently has 37 ports of embarkation across the globe and around 250 destinations are visited by its ships.

Costa Cruises is also an official partner of the WWF for the protection of the marine ecoregions of the Mediterranean, the Greater Antilles and Brazil. Costa Cruises also operates the brand AIDA Cruises, which is the number one cruise company for the German market with four ships in service and three under construction. Costa Cruises is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise operator.

For more information or to book go to Costacruises.co.uk.