Marco Rosa, who was responsible for much of the substantial growth in Costa’s UK business in recent years, has been appointed Area Director for the UK, Scandinavia and South Africa.

“Marco will continue to build on the excellent results he achieved in the UK market, which is strategic to the future development of Costa Cruises,” says Gianni Onorato, Costa Cruises President.

Rosa will return to his native Italy where he will be based at Costa Cruises’ headquarters in Genoa. His new role will be effective from 1 June 2010.

The new role is a key element within Costa Cruises’ initiative to centralize its resources and offer the highest possible standards of service and assistance, while maintaining a local presence with a dedicated UK sales team.

With the new commercial structure for the UK market, Costa Cruises aims to improve the quality of service offered. Sales managers based in the UK will be supported by marketing and commercial teams centralised at the new Palazzo Costa, Costa’s headquarters in Genoa. The aim would be to maintain the presence of Costa Cruises while increasing the quality of the relationships with the major clients and to find new marketing opportunities.

The aim is to optimise the resources and the professional competences that operate in Costa Cruises, to maintain our leadership position in Europe and to be the leaders in client service by being faster, more efficient and more focused. This reorganisation represents an investment for the future, to sustain our growth. Costa Cruises intends to grow together with its commercial partners by offering the resources of a big company to guarantee a more efficient and tailor-made service.

Marco Rosa will be reporting to Angelo Capurro, Director of UK and growth markets.