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Agreement Between Municipality, Port Authority and Costa Cruises for Sustainable Development in Savona

Plannedinterventions will focus on environmental impact, communication and thecreation of economic and social value. As a result, Savona will become areference model for responsible growth in the cruise sector. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

Savona,10 November 2015 –Today, the Municipality of Savona, the Port Authority of Savonaand Costa Cruises signed a three-year memorandum ofunderstanding for sustainable development in the cruise sector in Savona.

Thisunprecedented agreement calls for joint interventions in various areas toguarantee responsible growth of the cruise industry in Savona that, thanks tothe presence of Costa ships in 2014, was Italy’s fourth leading cruise port,with more than 1 million embarking, disembarking and transitingpassengers (source: Clia Europe).

“Today,the Municipal Administration, along with the Port Authority and Costa Cruises,will sign a memorandum of understanding that provides strong evidence of thecommon goals to ensure truly sustainable development of tourism in the city.This important document emphasises the signers’ commitment to work on an arrayof strategic themes ranging from respect for the environment to promotion andenhancement of our city and its cruise vocation through shared actions andinstruments. The document that we are signing is a symbol of how the city haschanged over two decades, through new potentialities that Savona and its tourismport, supported by the commercial harbour, have demonstrated, owing to its ownindependence, to be capable of offering in the future to our area”, statedFederico Berruti, Mayor of Savona.

“Thanksto close cooperation between Costa, the Municipality and the Port Authority,Savona will become a long-term reference for sustainable development in thecruise sector, thereby creating economic, social and environmental value forthe area – declared Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises– In recent years we have made major investments in Savona, such as theconstruction of the Palacrociere’s second terminal, and we would like tocontinue to grow together with the city in a responsible manner.”

“Thesigning of this memorandum of understanding formalises a series of mutualcommitments by the signers with the clear objective of continuing to improveand, if possible, implement what was built from 1996 to the present: thisincludes important infrastructures and a high-level service model for cruisepassengers and ships, creating numerous jobs that on peak days will reach atotal of 200 - pointed out the President of the Port Authority of Savona,Gian Luigi Miazza - From the very beginning the objective was to make iteasier to become more familiar with Savona and, today, the Infopoint in frontof the Palacrociere is a decisive reference for cruise passengers. In otherwords, the idea is to work all together to meet new challenges in terms offuture investments and increasing the figures to be generated over the longterm, starting from today and from everything that the cruise system hasalready developed in Savona”.

The mainareas of intervention included in the agreement focus on environmentalprotection, social and economic impact, and communication of the resultsachieved.

Regardingthe emissions from ships in port, Costa Cruises is constantly engaged in aseries of initiatives aimed at thorough management of energy resources andlimiting environmental impact, such as implementation of the "Exhaust GasCleaning systems" on 7 of the fleet’s ships to reduce exhaust gases, orreplacing bulbs on board vessels with their low-consumption LED equivalents.The company has also announced the construction of the first cruise shipspowered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the “cleanest” fossil fuel in theworld. Those vessels are scheduled to be delivered in 2019 and 2020, withSavona to become the homeport for the first one. To obtain a more accurateoverview of the environmental impact generated in Savona, Costa has alsodeveloped specific activities for monitoring port emissions, the results ofwhich will soon be available.

Theenvironment-oriented interventions set out in the agreement will also involve vehiculartraffic to and from the Palacrociere providing, for example, specialcommunications to guests to give preference to those arriving by car from theVado motorway exit instead of from Albisola.

Activitiesare already under way to monitor the noise impact of ships during portoperations, with additional improvements to the current ship waste recyclingand disposal process, a truly virtuous example in Europe. To this regardplans also call for increasing cooperation with some important partners, suchas CiAl. Instead, another noteworthy project for safeguarding marine fauna isWhalesafe, with the aim of protecting cetaceans in the area of the PelagosSanctuary.

In thesocial and economic areas, initiatives are planned to consolidate relationshipswith the local communities. Palacrociere’s second terminal, inaugurated in 2014and for which Costa has invested 9 million Euros, will increase cruise trafficeven more over the next few years, thereby creating new jobs at a locallevel. In addition, a consulting company will be requested to develop a studyto measure the economic impact of cruises in the area.

Efforts willalso be made in terms of training, through the organisation of professionaltraineeships for young people from Savona at the Palacrociere, along with courseson tourism welcoming activities for personnel who are already employed. Therewill also be educational programs for elementary and middle-school students andcooperation with universities and secondary schools for research projectslinked to cruises and tourism.

The jointmanagement, already formalised, by Costa, Municipality, Chamber of Commerce andPort Authority of the Info Point, located in the dockyards next to theterminal, will improve tourist welcoming and information services for cruisepassengers, and for which development projects are being planned in acooperative effort with local associations.

The Palacrocierewill open its doors to the city for visits by students, while also holding“open days”, cultural events and conferences.
The support andsponsoring of local initiatives that focus on sustainability will also beevaluated along with involvement of Costa and its employees in volunteerprojects linked to the area.

Continuationof the sustainability program signed today will be ensured by meetingsinvolving constant updates between Municipality, Port Authority and CostaCruises, which also pledge to communicate the results achieved to the city.

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