Costa Cruises bullish on Phl market

MANILA, Philippines - Cruise tourism is slowly gaining ground in the Philippines and is deemed to add “more fun” to the country’s tourism industry.

In response to this growing market, Europe’s leading cruise company Costa Crociere S.p.A has included a number of Philippine tourist destinations such as Manila, Boracay and Palawan in its cruise programs in Southeast Asia.

This month, Costa Victoria, one of 15 cruise ships of Costa Cruises, a member of the Costa group, is docking in Manila’s South Harbor to signal an aggressive campaign to lure more Filipino tourists to experience the joy and excitement of cruising on a luxury liner, and to also bring in international tourists to the country’s prime destinations.

Costa Victoria carries more than 2,300 passengers and the inclusion of the Philippines in its itinerary is seen as a milestone for the country’s cruise industry.

TravelPeople Ltd. Inc. (TPLI) president and general manager Maria Cristina Cortez said the prospects of cruise tourism in the country are bright and could help boost not only tourism but also the employment of Filipino sea workers.

“Cruising is really getting popular these days, especially now that there are a lot of local low-cost carriers which are offering budget flights,” she said.

Sanchez said more and more cruise companies, such as Costa Cruises, are offering tour packages that are really affordable.

“You get to spend a little more for airfare to get to a ship dock, then take you to several countries in five or more days. It is indeed a wonderful holiday especially for families who want to have quality bonding time together,” she added.

TPLI, part of the Magsaysay group of companies, is the preferred sales agent and shore excursion operator of Costa. It also provides the travel arrangements of the crew of the leading Italian travel group.

Tourism Promotions Board chief operating officer (COO) Domingo Ramon Enerio III said the Philippines is slowly being recognized by big cruise companies and is now being included in their various cruise programs in Southeast Asia.

“Big players (in the cruise industry around the world) have been to the Philippines. They see our facilities and they see our destinations. They just don’t stop in Manila, they go to other island destinations. They are all very happy about it because they are all natural attractions with a very relaxing atmosphere, and it is really part of how you can enjoy the cruise. So cruising is a major part of our campaign and the development process for cruising is certainly being handled aggressively by the DOT,” he said.

Enerio said they expect the cruise industry to grow over the years from having only a five percent share of the market. At present, about 95 percent of tourist arrivals in the Philippines are by air.

“We see great potential of cruise tourism in the country especially with these big cruise companies starting up various discussions with Philippine tourism authorities on how we can further expand cooperation on this endeavor,” he said.

“What is good about cruise ships is they bring in thousands of tourists one time, like 3,000 to 5,000 in one trip. This is equivalent to 10 to 20 planes,” he said.

Costa Cruises is deploying Costa Victoria mostly for its ASEAN cruises to capture most of the cruise travelers in this part of the world.

Aside from offering an attractive cruise package, especially to budget-conscious travelers, the newly refurnished Costa Victoria (75,000 gross tonnage and with carrying capacity of 2,394 passengers) boasts of excellent service, good food and lots of entertainment all tailored to the tastes and needs of the Asian market.

“Our investment in Costa Victoria means she is going to offer our valued Asian passengers the absolute finest and most enjoyable cruising holiday, which speaks of our long-term commitment to the Asian market,” Buhdy Bok, Costa Crociere senior vice president for Pacific Asia and China, said in a recent press statement.

Bok said the Costa Group is set to debut the newly restyled Costa Victoria to the Asian market with exclusive itineraries in November and December — departing from Singapore to Semarang, Bali, Lombok, Malacca, Penang, Langkawi, Kuantan, Phuket, and Koh Samui.

What Costa Victoria has to offer

 Costa Victoria would want to be known to be the “Italy at Sea.”

After its restyling was completed last November, the new Costa Victoria now carries a cohesive Italian theme which is evidently seen as soon as the guests board the cruise ship.

From a sun-lit atrium, guests will be greeted by the best Italian mosaics done by Emilio Tadinis.

Guests can also take a relaxing break at the Pompei Spa, the first indoor thalassotheraphy pool among the Costa fleet, which draws inspiration from the splendor of Pompeii.

On top of its unrivaled entertainment program onboard, Costa Victoria also boasts of its friendly crew composed mostly of Filipinos.

Costa Victoria also features a twist in its culinary offering that will immediately put its Asian guests at ease, with a wide choice of Asian and Italian dishes throughout the cruise.

It provides more than 50 dishes to choose from daily on around-the-clock basis, including 20 different pastas from Italy and using 3,500 ingredients, together with 80 types of wines selected by the Worldwide Sommelier Association.

Discerning guests, fashionistas and bargain-hunters can shop at the designer boutique area that offers a “30-Day Price Match Guarantee.” Shoppers will be also able to take advantage of duty-free prices for items from their favorite top European brands, ranging from leather goods by Gucci and Prada, cosmetics from Chanel to luxury watches by Longines.

And what’s more exciting about this onboard shopping is if guests find an identical item on shore either during the cruise or when they disembark the ship for less, Costa will gladly refund the difference either onboard or 30 days after the purchase date.

Starting 2014, Costa would be launching specially tailored New Year itineraries.

New Year Cruises from Singapore will bring you to some of the most popular and exciting destinations in Malaysia and Thailand. Guests can choose to depart on Dec. 28 for a five-night holiday to celebrate the New Year; price starts at $829 per person.

By April, Costa Victoria will cruise to Shanghai, Cheju, Fukuoka and Kagoshima for six days and five nights with price starting at $599.

More on Costa

 With revenues of 3.1 billion euros and 2.3 million total guests in 2011, Costa Crociere is the largest Italian travel group and Europe’s No. 1 cruise company, comprising the brands Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Iberocruceros. The group is headquartered in Genoa.

It has 26 ships with a total guest capacity of around 67,000. The ships in service for Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises fly the Italian flag, while those operating for Iberocruceros fly the Portuguese flag. The group’s ships are deployed in the Mediterranean, northern Europe, Baltic Sea, Caribbean, Central America, South America, United Arab Emirates, Far East, and Red Sea, as well as in Round the World and Grand cruises.

Costa Crociere is currently a member of Carnival Corp. & plc, the world’s largest cruise operator.

To continue to expand its market, Costa is set to put into service four more new ships by 2016, bringing its fleet to 30 ships by the end of 2016.

Each year Costa’s ships offer the chance to visit some 250 destinations with 150 different itineraries. Available excursions total over 2,200, of which around 300 are eco-tourism excursions, comprising visits to parks, oases and nature reserves, with programs that minimize the impact on the ecosystem and create economic opportunities for the local communities.

At present, Costa Cruises is RINA-certified with the B.E.S.T. 4 (Business Excellence Sustainable Task), an integrated system of voluntary certification of corporate compliance with the highest international standards involving social accountability (SA 8000, issued in 2008, thanks to the first voluntary pilot program in the maritime industry); environment (UNI EN ISO 14001, issued in 2004), safety (OHSAS 18001, issued in 2007); and quality (UNI EN ISO 9001, issued in 2008).

Costa Cruises is also the first company in the world that was awarded by RINA with the voluntary “Green Star” notation for its entire fleet. The assignment of the Green Star means that RINA has certified that all of Costa’s vessels are operated in an environmentally responsible manner and help protect the air and sea in the areas where they sail. The Green Star notation is based on the highest environmental protection standards for the prevention of pollution of the marine environment and it is actually stricter than the prevailing provisions of the international MARPOL convention.

Costa Cruises, headquartered in Genoa, Italy, has offices in Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Hamburg, Linz, Zurich, Brussels, Lisbon, Miami, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Manila, La Romana (Dominican Republic), Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

It can count on its young and international staff: 80 percent of its more than 19,000 employees or 18,000 are onboard, and 1,000 are on shoreside — who are under 40 years old and come from 70 countries.

Costa Cruises currently has nine training schools all over the world. In 2011, Costa training schools provided 780,000 hours of training to 111,000 attendees. These schools are in the Genoa headquarters; Almere (Netherlands), which is a maritime training center for officers; Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Peru, Indonesia, and China. They are run directly or as joint ventures with leading local universities.

The company also has a team of mobile instructors ready to guarantee Costa training in Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, South Korea, and Thailand, and a training center on each of its cruise ships.

In 2011, survey showed that 98 percent of guests were satisfied.

Costa Cruises works with about 80,000 travel agencies all over the world.

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For bookings or more information, call 465-8890, 465-8895, 465-8896 or 465-8800 or e-mail at tours@travelpeople.com.ph.