Costa Cruises and Starboard Cruise Services to bring enhanced international luxury retail experience to Costa cruises’ guests
By Freesun News at 10 June, 2010, 5:24 am
- New Agreement Builds on Success of Longtime Partnership in Providing Exceptional Onboard Retail Experience
- Focus on Offering Wider Range of European Fashion Brands and Enhanced Assortment in Costa Cruises Collection
Genoa, May 28, 2010 – Costa Cruises, the largest Italian travel group and Europe’s n.1 cruise line, today announced that it has entered into a new agreement with Starboard Cruise Services, Inc., the world’s largest onboard retailer, which continues the partnership between the companies that began in 1988. Under this new, five-year agreement, Starboard will provide an enhanced assortment of merchandise in Costa’s onboard shops, including a wider offering of European luxury brands as well as a more updated, fashionable collection of Costa Cruises-branded apparel and accessories.
Each year, Costa offers 250 destinations, which attract guests from more than 170 countries, across its current fleet of 14 ships, with two more ships being added within 2012. The merchandise assortment in each Costa Cruises “Galleria Shop” will be tailored to reflect the cruise itinerary and the preferences of Guests based on their nationality mix. Additionally, Costa Cruises will collaborate with the Starboard personnel in the Galleria Shops to ensure consistent execution of its customer service brand strategy, which reflects the highest standard in cruiseline travel. Among the range of luxury brands to be carried in the Galleria Shops will be the most renowned and beloved ones such as: Dior, Chanel, Bulgari, Versace, Ferragamo, Calvin Klein, Moschino, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Armani, Hermes, Hugo Boss, Versace, Valentino, and Swarovski.
Starboard and Costa Cruises have also worked together to innovate the product range offered, with special regard to Costa Cruises’ in-house collection: fashion items and accessories with the Company logo and reflecting the latest trends.
Gianni Onorato, President of Costa Cruises, said, “Having an exceptional retail offering is an important part of the holiday experience. Costa Cruises’ ships offer an high quality product for an international clientele, including the very best of “Made in Italy”, that is synonymous worldwide with quality, good taste and prestige: that is our goal also for the onboard shopping experience. Due to Starboard’s deep understanding of the most successful onboard merchandise assortments and preferences across nationalities, they have been an ideal partner for us. We look forward to working closely with them to make our onboard shops even more appealing and exciting for our Guests.”
Starboard’s President, Robin (Rob) Norris, said, “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Costa and deliver the finest onboard retail experience available. This includes further improving our assortments to reflect a greater European fashion sensibility as well as providing a more targeted offering that reflects passengers’ nationalities and the destinations they will visit.”
About Costa Cruises
Costa is Europe’s no. 1 cruise company. For over 60 years its ships have plied the seas of the world, offering the best in Italian style, hospitality and cuisine and providing dream holidays with the utmost in terms of fun and relaxation. Its fleet has a total of 14 ships, all flying the Italian flag, each with her own distinctive characteristics and unique style; together each year, they offer the chance to visit some 250 separate destinations in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Baltic Sea, the Caribbean, South America, the United Arab Emirates, the Far East and the Indian Ocean. Two more new ships have been ordered from Fincantieri and will be delivered by 2012.
Costa Cruises 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, 2004), safety (OHSAS 18001, 2007) and quality (UNI EN ISO 9001, 2008). Costa Cruises has been an official partner of WWF Italia for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea since 2005. All the ships in the Costa fleet have been assigned RINA’s Green Star notation certifying that they are operated in compliance with the highest environmental protection standards. In the “Global Reputation Pulse” 2009 international study, Costa Cruises is in 1st place among Italian “service industry” companies; Pulse scores are a measure of the corporate reputation (in terms of trust, esteem etc.) of the 600 largest enterprises located in 32 countries worldwide.
With revenues of approximately 2.6 billion euros and 1.82 million total Guests in 2009, Costa Crociere S.p.A. is the largest Italian travel group and comprises the brands Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Iberocruceros. The group ranks in 10th place as regards profitability and 65th in terms of sales in Mediobanca’s 2009 survey of over 3,700 Italian enterprises that recorded revenue of at least 50 million euros the previous fiscal year. Costa Crociere S.p.A. is a member of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world’s largest cruise operator.
About Starboard:
Starboard Cruise Services, Inc., is the world’s largest and leading onboard retailer, offering cruise ship passengers world-class brands and exclusive merchandise with tax and duty free savings. Together with our cruiseline partners, our goal is to provide an unforgettable, exciting vacation and destination shopping experience. Starboard has been a duty-free retailer since 1958 and in 2000 was acquired by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Inc., the world’s leading luxury goods group.
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