Costa Cruises to double capacity in Asia
HONG KONG – Costa Cruises has released its 2009 brochure in Europe.
A dedicated version designed especially for the Asia market will follow with the launch scheduled for early March.
The 340 page brochure has been published well in advance in all the countries where Costa Cruises operates and features a number of major Asian and global innovations for the industry, with regard both to the routes and to the fleet.
It features new itineraries in Asia, one of the most popular routes for travellers in this region, as well as the Amazon River, the United States and Canada, and the Mediterranean.
Growth in the Asia Pacific, along with the United Arab Emirates, the Indian Ocean, northern Europe and South America has fuelled Costa’s 12 percent capacity growth on 2008.
In 2009 Costa’s ships will offer about 250 destinations worldwide and more than 100 itineraries.
Costa Cruises will be the first operator to offer a transatlantic cruise from Italy to Argentina and up the Amazon River.
Other news for 2009 is the introduction of cruises in the US and
Canada in autumn, with five calls in Quebec, Boston, Newport and New York.
There are also innovations in the Mediterranean, with two new itineraries featuring two-day stopovers in Istanbul and Lisbon, and new ports of call at Capri, the Isle of Elba and St. Tropez, as well as additional cruise routes in Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.
In Asia, the company will double its capacity with a second ship deployed in the region for the first time.
The Costa Allegra, which inaugurated this route for Costa Cruises in summer 2006, will be joined by the Costa Classica, one of the most popular liners in the Costa fleet.
In Dubai and the UAE the size of the offer will rise by 50% with the arrival for the first time of the Costa Victoria alongside the Costa Classica.
Next year will see the arrival in the Costa fleet of the new flagships Costa Luminosa and Costa Pacifica.
The new brochure has been brought out almost a year ahead of the cruise departure dates in order to enable all Costa’s customers to take full advantage of ProntoPrice, the company’s landmark pricing policy, with discounted rates exclusively available to early bookers.
Costa’s brochure will be added to its website www.costacruisesasia.com www.costacruisesasia.com
Ian Jarrett
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