The Mole meets Dario Rustico Costa Cruises’ Sales and Marketing Director Asia Pacific Operations

On a recent visit to Sydney, Dario Rustico, a charismatic Italian now based in Hong Kong and charged with running the sales and marketing of Costa’s Cruise product in Asia Pacific was able to take some time out to have a chat with The Mole.

Until recently Costa was not that well known in Australia and New Zealand, but Dario told the Mole that the appointment of representatives such as eCruising and Cruise Agents had made a significant difference to business out of the region.

Costa is without doubt now one of the leading cruise operators in the world, and while born in Italy over 100 years ago, starting as a family company initially trading in oils and textiles, Costa moved into cruising, mainly to South America and then after the Second World War became exclusively dedicated to cruising, with 60 years experience now under its belt.

[Pictured: Anna C, Costa’s first passenger vessel]

Until bought by Carnival, Costa was family owned with a history of pioneering, it was the first company to operate fly cruises, which has remained very popular and a core part of their business.

Dario told me that they now have 12 ships, the largest and most modern fleet in Europe, with several newbuilds on order and while their birthplace is Europe they have expanded their operation pretty well globally, with 29 offices around the world and 50,000 employees from many nationalities.

[Pictured: Costa Concordia]

He added that they offer programmes in most of the key cruise areas and in line with their pioneering history, Costa was the first cruise company to offer itineraries from Dubai in 2007, which has been a tremendous success with Costa doubling their capacity with a second ship.

He said that they were the first cruise company to introduce cruises from the India Ocean with itineraries starting in Mauritius, but our core will always be Europe and more than 25,000 travel agents work with us every day with our core markets, Italy, France Spain and Germany.

Dario said that a Costa had assumed a global approach flying Europeans around the world and again in its pioneering role, Costa was the first international cruise operator to permanently locate a ship in Asia and specifically in China and the first cruise operator to be licensed by the Chinese Government to embark and disembark Chinse passengers, Dario adding, “So while we fly Europeans to these locations to cruise, we are developing strategic source markets”.

When asked if Costa had any plans to operate in Australia, Dario said, “We do not have a ship in Australia but our ships are progressively becoming closer and Australia has been very successful in opening up our distribution.”   

[Pictured: Cost Fortuna]

“Australia is now an important market for us as it is mature in terms of awareness of cruising in both B2B and trade and consumer, with a number operators tapping into this opportunity.”

He added, “While our fly cruise remains vital, our real twist is relocating and building capacity and tonnage close to where you live, with accessibility of the product key so for example a ship in Asia is more accessible for Australians than one in Europe, so that is as far as we will probably go at this time”.

He said that P&O is a sister company in Carnival, pursuing local itineraries in Australia and he believed that that Costa complements other Carnival offers into all regions globally.

When asked about Costa’s growth Dario said that in 2007 Costa had doubled its business on 2006 and for 2008 they have already created more business than in the whole of 2007, adding that is why the company wants to invest much more and also be progressively closer to Australia.

[Pictured: Costa Romantica]

In terms of Australia he said that Costa will kick off the 2009  programme in February and Australians will be able to book all of 2009 anywhere in the world, with he believed the Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore itineraries of particular appeal to Australians, with the Cost Allegra cruising 14 nights out of Singapore all year round and he believe a large percentage will be Australians.

Dario also said that from this month Costa will begin to sell 2009 in $A to be closer to the distribution.

He said, “We missed a lot of opportunities and business in 2208 because we did not have capacity and we are adding capacity to satisfy that demand.”  “We have expanded rapidly and we are the  only cruise company in the world that has five big ships on order, so in the future we are building new itineraries and while we will not be in Australia in 2009,  in the future who knows.”

“By 2012 we will have twenty eight ships – inc Aida and Ibercruceros, which we operate and we are the only cruise company in the world that flies the Italian and all the vessels are Italian registered.”

[Pictured: Costa Allegra]

“We work hard to keep our ships well fitted out and equipped and our smaller ships allow us to pick up business that we would otherwise miss including charters.”   

“The majority of our business though is on bigger ships, but we also recognise that a significant number of passengers are looking for smaller ships today, with bigger not necessarily better.”   “We are keen not to get so big that we lose quality on board and I believe that there is a point where enough is enough.”

When asked about competitors, he said that in some areas we compete with RCCI, but we are a big brand in Europe with 98% of Italians and 80% of the French knowing Costa as we have been working in those markets for decades.

“Costa Allegra was Carnival’s official move into Asia because without doubt, Costa is the most global brand amongst Carnival, with 60% of our business coming from all over the world and our right within our  DNA we have developed the capacity to satisfy varying cultures and demands.”

“We also always work on ourselves and continuously improve what we do, listening to our clients and our agents and we believe that is reflected in our 98% customer satisfaction rating world wide, but we are not satisfied, working hard on that 2% – we are very hard on ourselves.”

When asked about the challenges China presented Dario said, “We have been working very hard to understand the Chinese way of cruising and have also worked hard on the entertainment, testing any changes in the market to ensure we have it right”. 

[Pictured: Costa Mediterranea]

“For example, “Europeans lie on the decks sunning themselves, but Chinese do not, so we have had to offer entertainment during the day, whereas in Europe and S America, we do not.”

“Another example is that we have placed menus outside the bar and restaurants as the Chinese like to know what they are going to get, before they are in the restaurant so that they do not lose face.”

“Customer satisfaction is really growing and we are up to 98% out of Hong Kong and we now have three offices in China.”  “I am sure that you will be interested to know that Costa Allegra [pictured elsewhere in this article] has carried 55,000 passengers since she has been in Asia”.

I asked Dario how many passengers cruised on Costa annually and he said 1.1 million with a ship occupancy of 108%, with the 100% reflecting lower berths only, but they do also offer upper berths.

Dario said that Brett Dudley and his team at eCruising and Cruise Agents is a most important partner in Australia and has been very important in defining Costas’ channels in Australia, adding, “They are a leading agency for us with Brett and the team true Costa friends, important in putting Costa on the map, coming up with initiatives, which is why we see Brett and his team as strategic partners, helping us grow to market.”

[Pictured: Brett and Philippa Dudley accept a top performers Costa Award in Europe]

“I think without doubt that the local Australian and global cruise market will continue to grow and I do not see it slowing or stopping into the foreseeable future.”

“Australians are more laid back and relaxed, with a high quality of life, so we need to make sure we provide a product that satisfies their culture and also so that Australians feel at home and we do that through entertainment and food wine etc, plus for example right down to small things, like making sure that we have the Australian version of Trivial Pursuit, not the UK or US version, and while that is a small example, we believe those extra touches will satisfy all our clients where ever they come from.”

“We also pride ourselves in recognising each and every culture and greeting every individual every day with smile and quality service and in his or her comfort zone providing that extra touch.”

“We know that we have the service and the product and we have a massive training programme that all the crew go through – we even have a simulator for training for all aspects of our vessel for training”.

“The challenges for the future are being able to grow at the same pace as we are growing now without losing our soul and touch – we have to guarantee delivering that soul and touch to every passenger from every culture we touch and an example is that every announcement is in five languages related to the passengers.”

Without  doubt Costa will be an even bigger cruising force in the future – thank you Dario.

A Special The Mole face to face interview with Dario Rustico, Costa Cruises’ Sales and Marketing Director Asia Pacific Operations.