Malta home port decision pays dividends to cruise line

SMS Travel has just been presented with the prestigious award for Best Sales Agent for the Mediterranean by Costa Cruises, one of Europe's most innovative cruise lines.

SMS Travel, which has represented the Italian line for over 15 years, saw its sales rocket after Costa Cruises started using Malta as a home port this year.

"We had been pushing to have cruises starting and ending at the Grand Harbour for a while. Costa showed its faith in us this year and sent its flagship, Costa Magica," agency manager Paul Pizzuto said.

The cruises on board the Costa Magica, which started in April and ended last month, proved to be extremely popular and the company saw bookings shoot up by "1,000 per cent", agency supervisor Adrian Mifsud added.

"This award is a great incentive and marks Malta's role among the emerging markets," Mr Pizzuto said.

The award ceremony was held last week on board the Costa Classica, where Costa Cruises invited its international agents for the 13th edition of Champion of the Seas.

A number of countries were presented with different awards, with SMS Travel clinching the award for Malta after it sold 12 per cent of all the bookings from the 43 emerging markets.

Alessandro Bottaro, Costa Cruises head for the region who presented Mr Pizzuto and Mr Mifsud with the award, praised SMS for doing a great job.

"We believe that Malta has a lot of potential in cruises, so much so that next year we're sending the Costa Concordia, our latest and biggest liner, to Malta to replace the Costa Magica. This is a clear sign that Costa believes in the island," he said after the award ceremony.

"After we introduced Malta as one of the home ports on our itinerary we knew it would go down well with the Maltese because they like cruises and they like Costa's Italian style.

"We will now leave it in the good hands of SMS to continue doing a good job," Mr Bottaro said.

The Costa Concordia, which starts operating from Malta in July, is still under construction in Genoa, Italy and, once completed, will be one of the biggest vessels in Costa's fleet.

With a gross tonnage of 112,000, and stretching 290 metres in length, the Costa Concordia will have 1,500 cabins and will be able to take 3,780 guests.

One of the main innovations offered will be the Samsara Spa, an exclusive 1,900 square metre wellness centre, stretching over two decks, making it the largest of its kind ever built on a cruise ship.

Facilities include a gym, a health spa, an indoor thalassotherapy pool, treatment rooms, a sauna, a Turkish bath and a solarium. About 55 cabins and 12 suites on the ship will have direct access to the wellness area.

Other innovations comprise a Formula 1 driving simulator and two swimming pools with sliding glass roofs and a giant video screen.

Mr Pizzuto said that the weekly cruises starting and ending in Malta on board the Costa Concordia will call at Palermo, Rome, Savona, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Tunis.

"Maltese holidaymakers will be boarding a five-star floating hotel, with the opportunity to see so many different countries. The fact that they can board the liner from the Grand Harbour just adds to the attraction," Mr Mifsud said.

Costa Cruises is a member of the exclusive world's leading Cruise Lines alliance, which includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, The Yachts of Seabourn, Princess Cruises and Windstar Cruises.

Together, these member lines share a commitment to quality and value, offering cruise vacations that appeal to a wide range of lifestyles and budgets and sail to some of the world's most exciting destinations.

What began as a fleet of freighters transporting fabrics and olive oil between Genoa and Sardinia in the mid-1800s is today the largest and most modern cruise fleet in Europe.

Costa Cruises, which became a fully owned subsidiary of Carnival Corp. in 2000, is an Italian company with a modern fleet of ships, worldwide itineraries and a distinct Italian personality.