Costa Cruises strengthens management structure

Roberto Alberti will take over as SVP as well as chief corporate officer, reporting directly to Costa President Mario Zanetti.

New role for Alberti

In this new role, Alberti will lead finance, IT, legal, corporate communication and government relations. At Costa for more than 15 years, Alberti has held various positions of increasing responsibility in Italy and abroad, making a fundamental contribution to the definition of the company’s sustainable development plan and the global market strategy.

Since March 2021, when he was appointed chief commercial officer, he gave a significant boost to sales and marketing activities in the markets where the company operates.

Expanded role for Francesco Muglia

Francesco Muglia expands his current responsibilities and assumes the position of SVP global marketing and sales, also reporting directly to Zanetti.

In this new role, Muglia will have the objective of integrating marketing and sales across all channels, including the direct sales department, and therefore also assumes responsibility for all the marketing and sales activities in the different business areas worldwide, which will report directly to him.

Muglia has been with Costa since 2016, first holding the position of global customer and marketing intelligence director, and then talking on wider remits, including general manager for the Iberia region until September 2023 when he was appointed VP global marketing and source markets.

In addition to the above-mentioned areas, the function of brand PR & sustainability will also report to Muglia.

Zanetti commented, ‘Francesco and Roberto played a decisive role and significantly contributed to the recent repositioning of our brand. During their careers at Costa, they have also gained a 360° experience giving strong impetus to our marketing programs and sales activities in all markets.’

New marketing hire

Giovanna Loi will take the role of VP marketing and customer experience innovation, joining Costa starting from November 6, reporting directly to Muglia.

Loi will oversee global brand & advertising, CRM & loyalty, customer experience innovation & on-board communication, omnichannel media, marketing intelligence and marketing planning, previously reporting to Muglia.

Loi is currently serving as the chief digital officer at GroupM Italy, a media investment company, and has been responsible for developing and executing innovative marketing strategies that drive business growth.

Zanetti concluded: ‘We face new commercial challenges always aiming at the full satisfaction of our guests, towards a continuous improvement. I am confident that this new organizational structure will enable us to achieve important new successes.’