Costa Cruises Names New Southern Europe Vice President

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Luigi Stefanelli has just been appointed as Costa Cruises’ associate VP for Southern Europe. Before this new posting, Stefanelli worked for the company in different regional cruising markets, as well as in a variety of different managerial positions.

Costa Cruises’ New VP for Southern Europe

On June 29, 2023, Costa Cruises unveiled the selection of Luigi Stefanelli as the associate vice president for the cruise lineโ€™s Southern Europe Region. 

Stefanelli, who has steadily risen through the ranks at Costa Cruises, will now be overseeing operations for these subsequent territories: Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal.

Originally founded over a century ago, in 1854 in Genoa, Italy, Costa Cruises is now a prominent Italian cruise line that offers its guests a variety ofย cruising itinerariesย that span the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and beyond.

Luigi Stefanelli
Luigi Stefanelli

Currently, Costa Cruises operates aboutย 10 vessels, all sailing under the Italian flag. The LNG-powered (liquefied natural gas) 185,010-tonย Costa Smeralda, built by Meyer Turku in Finland in 2019, is one of the companyโ€™s newest and largest ships, with a capacity of up to 6,554 passengers.

Costa Smeraldaโ€™sย sister shipย Costa Toscana, which was launched in March 2022, is the lineโ€™s newestย flagship vessel to hit the high seas in search of fun, adventure, and luxury.

Luigi Stefanelli: Managing the Southern Mediterranean Cruise Market

While Costa Cruises sails to many different ports around the globe, Southern Europe, and countries like Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal, are very important destinations for the companyโ€™s client base. 

The 38-year-old Stefanelli, who is now assuming the title of associate VP for Southern Europe, will be succeeding Rafaele d’Ambrosio in the position.

Costa Cruise Ship
Photo Credit: ODIN Daniel / Shutterstock

โ€œI believe this appointment can give a great boost to the commercial development of the Southern Europe Region,โ€ Costa Cruisesโ€™ SVP & Chief Commercial Officer Roberto Alberti remarked. 

โ€œFor us, these markets [Southern Europe] play a fundamental role and, thanks to the great international experience gained in recent years by Luigi, we are confident that we will be even more effective in the execution of our commercial strategy,โ€ Alberti added.

With over a decade of cruise industry experience, Stefanelli, originally from Naples, joined Costa Cruises’ headquarters in Genoa (in the pricing & revenue management department) after starting out as a financial business advisor consultant at Ernst & Young in Rome.

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In his new expanded role, Stefanelli will oversee Italy while retaining his previous positions as general manager for Spain & Portugal and general manager for France. Carlo Schiavon, currently the country manager for Italy, will step down to pursue personal endeavors but will maintain a cooperative relationship with the company.

Apart from his responsibilities as general manager for Spain and Portugal, Stefanelli will now also assume leadership for France, which is Costa Cruises’ second most significant European market after Italy. 

For his new VP position in the company, Stefanelli intends to divide his time between Madrid and Paris, to better keep an eye on the companyโ€™s operations in Southern Europe.

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Carl Pettit
Carl Pettit
From sailing in the Pacific Northwest to cruising along European rivers or into icy Norwegian fjords, Carl Pettit has been traveling the planet, learning foreign languages, and living overseas (seven countries so far) since he first left home. Carl has explored global ports from Jeju Island in South Korea and different islands in Japan to Barcelona and Bergen in Europe, Fort Dauphin in Madagascar, plus many more. He has written destination guides for the Royal Caribbean Group, travel pieces for AFAR, Culture Trip, and Marriott Traveler, as well as articles for a host of other publications.

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