Costa Cruises and the Barcelona City Council have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that promotes the city's strategy towards a sustainable economy and prioritizes key values such as sustainability and inclusive tourism. As the first concrete step of this agreement, Costa has established a new multilingual center – the Costa Customer Hub – located in the iconic Mapfre Tower, with the aim of improving customer services while generating value for the local community through employment and training.
The Memorandum of Understanding is part of the joint efforts that Costa and Barcelona City Council, through Barcelona Activa, have defined to work concretely towards a more sustainable and inclusive tourism that generates increasing value for Barcelona.
Both parties have agreed to work together to promote projects that will benefit the local economy by creating quality jobs, providing training, and developing sustainable cruise tourism; fostering innovation and technologies applied to the maritime sector; and promoting environmental sustainability initiatives
related to the sea and coastal tourism. They also envision social initiatives that support the community and those linked to tourism activities that connect visitors with the city's cultural heritage.
The strategy to boost the Blue Economy in Barcelona, included in the municipal government's measure launched less than a month ago announcing the allocation of €40 million to promote the blue sector, is a city-wide project developed with the participation of more than 70 companies and institutions within the city's blue economy ecosystem. This new agreement with Costa adds another project and another partner to the deployment of the Blue Economy's potential in the city. Along these lines, the aim is to particularly favor activities based on sustainability and innovation, so that the marine-related economy becomes a driver of the city's development and the cornerstone of its coastal area.
The First Deputy Mayor for Economy, Employment, Competitiveness, and Finance of Barcelona City Council, and President of Barcelona Activa, Jaume Collboni, stated: “The arrival of a major company in the city, which has chosen to establish its headquarters in Barcelona as a hub for innovation, talent, and technology to increase its competitiveness and generate jobs and wealth.” He also highlighted the city's commitment to the project, “an investment that we frame within the BCN Green Deal economic strategy, specifically in promoting a sustainable and high-quality tourism model and the Blue Economy.” “We are very pleased to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with Barcelona City Council, as it perfectly embodies our vision expressed in the Costa Manifesto for values-based, inclusive, and sustainable tourism. Our new Center of Excellence in Barcelona represents a significant first milestone of this agreement and a highly innovative asset for our company, where we are building a team of qualified and multicultural professionals,” declared Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Cruises. “Barcelona plays a key role for our company. Here we deploy our new ships, including the flagship Liquefied Natural Gas vessel Costa Smeralda, the most innovative and sustainable ship in the world, which will be followed by our second Liquefied Natural Gas vessel Costa Toscana, to be delivered in the coming weeks.”.
Costa Cruises has launched a transformation project aimed at improving customer service, which has led to the creation of a new multilingual center in Barcelona. The city was selected for its valuable professional and multicultural environment, which perfectly aligns with Costa's objectives of rapid growth in skills and business value.
The Costa Customer Hub has already employed more than 100 high-value professionals representing 21 nationalities, with the aim of growing even further in the coming years through new hires, becoming a cutting-edge innovation and development center for these individuals.
Costa is a leader in sustainable cruising. The company has pioneered the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), the most innovative technology currently available in the maritime sector for reducing emissions. Through its investments and partnerships, Costa also aims to complete its roadmap toward sustainable cruising, focusing on various technological solutions—such as shore-to-ship power, batteries, and fuel cells—that will bring it even closer to its ambitious goal of introducing a new generation of net-zero emission vessels.
