Costa Cruises will inaugurate its newest
ship, the Costa Serena, in Marseille, France, on May 19, marking
the first time Costa has inaugurated a ship in France and the first
christening of any cruise ship in Marseille, the cruise line.
"Our company and
our brand have a long, consolidated tradition in France, where
we've been operating for almost 60 years," said Costa Chairman and
CEO Pier Luigi Foschi.
Foschi said that
France is Costa's second largest market, after Italy, and that 14%
of its guests, an estimated sales equivalent of 150,000, will be
sourced from France in 2007. Costa has been calling in France since
the 1980's, the company said, and was the first to regularly stop
in Marseille, making it a base for the Costa Romantica in
1996.
Costa added that
25% of Marseille's 380,000 cruise passengers in 2006 came from
Costa ships. The city forecasts 450,000 visitors will spend time in
port there in 2007.
The 112,000-ton and
3,780-guest Costa Serena will be the 12th member of the Costa fleet
and is currently under construction at Fincantieri's Genoa-Sestri
Ponente shipyard.
To
contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Johanna
Jainchill at [email protected].