A rare piece of good news for the Italian economy has seen Costa Cruises double passenger numbers to become one of the country’s top ten most profitable companies.

Costa Cruises’ ships have brought approximately four million cruise passenger movements to Italy’s ports in 2011 – 50 per cent more than last year.

The Costa fleet called at a total of 22 ports in Italy and clocked up approximately 900 calls.

These new figures were revealed at the Italian Cruise Day forum in Venice, confirming Costa as the leading cruise company in Italy and Greater Europe. 

The Italian company has again been included in the Top 10 of Italy’s most profitable companies (survey by Mediobanca) and took the number one position in the Tourism Industry category.

According to another study by MIP (Milan Polytechnic) the Costa Group generated an impact of over €2.2 billion for Italy’s economy through tourism.

“Despite the current economic situation, Italian cruising remains a growth industry and continues to play a key role in terms of the creation of wealth and employment,” says Gianni Onorato, president of Costa Crociere.

“Costa Cruises is Italy and Europe’s number one cruise company and the driving force for the continent’s cruise industry as a whole.”

Costa Cruises growth in the Mediterranean in 2011 can be attributed to the entry of a new flagship – Costa Favolosa – the largest Italian passenger ship afloat with 3,800 guest capacity.

The Costa Favolosa is part of the €11 billion euro fleet expansion programme.