ITALY. Costa Cruises and Starboard Cruise Services this weekend revealed a stunning 8,000sq ft shopping arena onboard Costa Venezia, the Italian cruise company’s first ship designed to target the Chinese market.
Costa held its naming ceremony in Trieste, one of a series of launch events for business partners and media guests from China and around the world. The Moodie Davitt Report is on location, with a full story plus interviews, further images and video to follow soon.
The Italy-themed shopping environment across two decks is the largest on a Costa ship yet, featuring an impressive line-up of leading brands (notably in beauty and luxury), many carried for the first time at sea.
The collection includes many Italian brands, including first-time-at-sea Max Mara, Salvatore Ferragamo and Bvlgari. Bvlgari is presented in a branded boutique alongside other renowned luxury brands which will have their official ribbon-cutting ceremonies in Shanghai.
The launch of the Tiffany & Co. boutique marks the first time the brand will be featured on a Costa ship. The luxury line-up also includes Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre — brands coveted by Chinese luxury consumers, noted Starboard.
Other highlights include a 2,500sq ft beauty space, the largest for the category on any ship in the world, said Starboard. This houses over 30 international brands, with the first-at-sea Clé de Peau Beauté alongside Hermès, Yves Saint Laurent, La Prairie, Bvlgari, Chanel, Dior, La Mer, SK-II and more. Asian beauty brands include Shiseido, Dr. Jart+, Sulwhasoo and The History of Whoo.
An adjacent and elegant luxury watches store houses a strong range of Swiss timepieces, from Panerai, Hublot and IWC through Longines and Tissot to hot brands among the Chinese such as Gucci, Fendi and Mido.
A separate luxury zone (Calle Larga) is home to boutiques that offer, respectively, Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs, Salvatore Ferragamo and Bally, as well as Max Mara. Fashion watches (led by Citizen plus other names that include Daniel Wellington, Bering, Folli Follie and Chinese brand Fiyta) and fashion jewellery (with Swarovski, Majorica and Folli Follie) stores round out the upscale offer.
With Costa Venezia, Starboard said it is underlining its drive to take “experiential retail” to a new level. Starboard has partnered with Bvlgari (a sister brand within LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) in collaboration with Costa Cruises to present the first production of its kind at sea: the Bvlgari Jewelry Show. This is described as“an evening of elegance and glamour highlighting the Italian jeweller’s masterful craftsmanship”. During the show, which will feature onboard the Chinese itineraries out of Shanghai, the partners will present a display of Bvlgari jewels featured onboard at the boutique.
Starboard’s experience in cruise retail in the Asian market started in 2006 with Costa Allegra, the first ship ever deployed in the Chinese market. In 2018, Starboard and Costa entered into a multi-year agreement for retail operations which included the launch of Costa Venezia. The agreement also includes Costa’s launch of Costa Smeralda, debuting later this year for the European market. The launch of Costa Venezia brings the total number of Starboard ships in Asia to nine.
“We’re thrilled to continue expanding our presence in the Chinese market with Costa’s newest ship, Costa Venezia,” said Starboard Vice President & General Manager, Asia Derek Wong. “We have strategically selected brands that represent the best in Italian designers cherished by Chinese shoppers to complement and enrich Costa Venezia’s onboard offerings. Starboard offers an innovative approach to the retail experience not previously seen by Chinese travellers.”
Starboard Vice President & General Manager, Europe Stefano Menegotto said: “We’re extremely proud of the partnership we’ve established over the years with Costa. Our newest collaboration distinguishes Costa Venezia by bringing together the world’s best-loved Italian brands in an environment evoking the romanticism of Venice. Our guests can expect to have a truly memorable shopping experience unlike anything they’ve had before.”
Selected media and VIPs were introduced to Costa Venezia’s retail offerings during an exclusive, behind-the-scenes preview on Saturday that showcased key brands.
- Bally: A pop-up experience presenting Bally’s collaboration with former professional tennis player Jakob Hlasek. The brand re-created the courtyard where Hlasek won many of his championships.
- Max Mara: A discovery of the history of Max Mara’s renowned coats and how they are designed and created.
- Salvatore Ferragamo: A Ferragamo artisan invited guests to experience a live demonstration of the craft of creating Ferragamo’s footwear.
- Merchant of Venice: A Master Perfumer revealed the history of perfume through the centuries and across cultures, showing how to prepare fragrances from raw ingredients.
The formal naming of the ship was greeted on Friday by senior executives at Costa Cruse and Carnival Corporation as well as business partners and senior local, regional and national politicians. The naming ceremomy was preceded by a spectacular air show by the ‘Frecce Tricolori’ acrobatic team and followed later by a firework display that lit up the sky above Trieste.
Costa Venezia is part of an expansion that includes seven ships being delivered to the Costa Group by 2023, for a total investment of over €6 billion.
The ship, which has capacity for 5,200 guests, is designed to reflect “the best of Italy”, with inspiration for the interior design taken from the city of Venice.
At 135,500 tons and 323m in length, Costa Venezia will be the biggest ship introduced by Costa to the Chinese market. The Italian company said it was the first international player to start operating in China in 2006.
Costa Group and Carnival Asia CEO Michael Thamm said: “Costa Venezia will help us to further develop the cruise market in China, which has a great unexplored potential. Suffice to say that, currently, 2.5 million Chinese people a year choose to go on a cruise vacation, which is less than 2% of the total number of Chinese people who travel abroad. Moreover, Costa Venezia further strengthens Costa’s bond with Italy: it is a ship built in Italy, by an Italian shipyard, which flies the Italian flag and which will make Chinese guests experience unforgettable Italian experiences.”
Carnival Corporation President & CEO Arnold Donald said: “The delivery of Costa Venezia is a further step in the growth of a strong and sustainable cruise industry in China, which someday, we believe will be the largest cruise market in the world. The growth of the Chinese cruise industry will continue to open the world to millions of Chinese travellers and bring ever increasing prosperity to its people.”
Costa Group Asia President Mario Zanetti said: “From conception to delivery, everything about Costa Venezia has been designed having the Chinese customer in mind. Costa Venezia will continue to offer the authentic Italian experience that is a hallmark of Costa, but with further innovations that have never been seen before and which are designed to meet the needs of the local market even better.”
On the Chinese consumer he said later (a full interview will appear soon): “We have seen an evolution. A trend we observe in China is that shopping is not just about the act of purchasing, but is part of the exploration, of the learning, of the holiday. It’s not enough to offer products. They want to understand why we are offering these products and what they represent. That means having the right people to tell these stories.”
For Costa, China is part of a long-term game, he added. “We see China though a medium to long-term strategic approach. Our top management had the vision in 2006 to play a leadership role. You can say that the market has had ups and downs but over ten years there has been dramatic growth. Our commitment to the market is strong. A sister ship to Costa Venezia will reach the market in the second half of 2020. But it will be different from this. We don’t want to copy and paste, we want to evolve with our customers.”
The Costa Venezia‘s theatre is inspired by the Venetian La Fenice theatre; the main atrium is named after St. Mark’s Square, while the main restaurants aim to recall the traditional architecture of Venetian alleys and squares.
The food menus are strongly China-focused, while entertainment includes Chinese-style karaoke, and the ‘Golden Party’, with gifts to be won every ten minutes. Full-size gondolas, made by Squero di San Trovaso artisans, are also found onboard.
The launch ‘vernissage’ cruise will depart from Trieste on 3 March bound for Greece and Croatia. On 8 March, the ship will be back in Trieste for the start of its inaugural cruise: a 53-day trip following the tracks of Marco Polo through the Mediterranean to the Middle East, South East Asia and North Asia before docking in Tokyo.
From 18 May Costa Venezia will be dedicated exclusively to Chinese guests, offering cruises in Asia departing from Shanghai. After Costa Venezia, the group’s next ship to come into service, in October 2019, will be Costa Smeralda, the new Costa Cruises flagship and the first ship for the world market to be powered by LNG. Starboard will also be the retail partner for Costa Smeralda, which is built for the European market.
*More on the retail offer will follow soon, as will an in-depth on location report on the Costa Venezia launch, and on Starboard’s wider plans and ambitions.
