Costa Cruises doubles down on Barcelona with a 'hub' that will employ 300 people

The Mapfre Tower, the twelfth tallest building in Spain, is, along with the Hotel Arts, managed by Ritz Carlton, the tallest skyscraper in Barcelona. Completed in 1992, the work of architects Enrique León and Iñigo Ortiz, it measures 154 meters and has 44 floors, of which 39 are 44,000 square meters of offices for different companies and corporations such as the advertising agency DDB, the beauty product manufacturer Coty, the chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli, the alcoholic beverage distributor Campari, and even houses diplomatic headquarters, such as the German Consulate General.

From now on, these will have a new neighbor on the 24th floor: Costa Cruises. This Italian shipping company has chosen Barcelona to establish its Customer Hub, an international customer service center for agencies and cruise passengers that was officially inaugurated yesterday with a staff of 100 employees of 21 nationalities, although as Mario Zanetti, global president of Costa Cruises, anticipates, the board has already decided to imminently expand its number through new hires, so that in a short time these high-value professionals will grow to reach 300 people.

"These hires will make Barcelona a cutting-edge innovation and development center for all these people," announced Zanetti, who also praised the Port of Barcelona for its proactivity with the company and for the service received as a pioneering refueling center for its ships with liquefied natural gas. The president of Costa Cruises was accompanied yesterday by Jaume Collboni in his dual role as president of Barcelona Activa and deputy mayor for Economy, Labor, Competitiveness and Finance of the Barcelona City Council.

Going beyond the new facilities in the skyscraper, the chief executive of Costa Cruises also indicated that Barcelona plays a key role for the company. He then recalled the deployment of new ships, including the innovative and sustainable liquefied natural gas flagship Costa Smeralda, which will be followed by its second ship with this fuel, the Costa Toscana, which will be delivered in the coming weeks and will immediately be positioned in Barcelona, as the third ship in the port, where the aim is to exceed 200 annual calls in 2022.

Agreement to boost the blue economy

The Zanetti-Collboni meeting was used for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that aims to promote a sustainable economy in Barcelona "and wants to put inclusive tourism in the foreground, generating increasing value for the city," as both parties made sure to recall, with Barcelona Activa being the direct interlocutor with the shipping company.

Both the City Council and the shipping company have agreed to work together to promote projects that can benefit the local economy through the creation of quality jobs, training and the development of sustainable cruise tourism, foster innovation and technologies applied to the maritime sector, and promote environmental sustainability actions linked to the sea and coastal tourism.

Likewise, social value initiatives that support the community and those linked to a tourist activity that allows connecting with the city's cultural heritage are contemplated, as Rafael Fernández-Álava, marketing, communication and institutional relations director of Costa Cruises and a confessed enthusiast of Barcelona, where he lived for a year, later recalled.

For his part, Collboni thanked the arrival of a large company in the city and Costa's decision "to base itself in Barcelona as a hub for innovation, talent and technology to increase its competitiveness and generate jobs and wealth". The deputy mayor also wanted to highlight the municipal commitment to the project, "an investment that we frame within the BCN Green Deal economic strategy, specifically in promoting a sustainable and quality tourism model and the blue economy."

The strategy to boost the so-called blue economy in Barcelona, a municipal government measure launched less than a month ago, announced the allocation of 40 million euros to boost the blue sector. This is a city project that has been worked on with the participation of more than 70 companies and institutions from the city's blue ecosystem (by the sea). This new agreement with Costa adds one more project and partner to the deployment of the potential of this economy. In this line, it is insisted that the aim is to especially favor activities based on sustainability and innovation, so that the economy linked to the sea becomes a vector of development for the city and the cornerstone of the coastal area.

Commitment to a more sustainable tourism model

Zanetti, president of Costa since March of this year, has piloted the progressive restart of his company's operations and yesterday he was happy, noticing different details of the city from the privileged viewpoint that is the 24th floor of the Mapfre Tower. "We are very, very satisfied to sign the memorandum with the City Council," he indicated. "What begins now perfectly embodies the vision we express in our manifesto for value-based, inclusive and sustainable tourism. Furthermore, our new Center of Excellence in Barcelona represents a first significant milestone of this agreement and a very innovative asset for our company, where we are building a team of qualified and multicultural professionals."