Costa Crociere set to hire 1,600 Filipinos

By Roderick T. dela Cruz

Italian luxury cruise operator Costa Crociere has committed to hire 1,600 more Filipino staff next year as a part of its expansion program.

Costa Crociere, which has the largest fleet of luxury cruise vessels in Europe, said it expected the number of Filipino hotel and culinary personnel on its vessels to rise to 6,200 in 2008 from 4,600 this year.

The company's 12 vessels carried a total of 880,000 guests in 2006, which are expected to rise further with the completion of five more vessels by 2012.

Costa Crociere inaugurated its preparatory training school at the Magsaysay Institute of Hospitality and Culinary Arts in Manila on Oct. 29 to prepare hospitality and culinary personnel for the cruise and hospitality industries.

The training school has been working as Costa's strategic partner in the development of vessel personnel from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and China.

Costa Crociere said it hoped to attract about 1,600 new personnel a year, including young college-level graduates from hotel training schools in the Philippines to experience a fulfilling career in a prestigious cruise company.

Magsaysay Institute would be the first of the company's eight training schools worldwide to offer a new type of educational program for recruits, called "Ready for Excellence," designed to equip trainees with the skills they need to deliver excellent service to Costa Crociere's guests.

"Personnel training is one of those factors that make the difference for any company, especially one like ours working in the hospitality industry," said Costa Crociere S.P.A. chairman and chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi.

"Also, our fleet expansion program, with another five new ships due to enter service by 2012, needs to be adequately supported by training activity in line with our core values of service excellence and passion for the guest, which have enabled us to retain our position of leadership in Italy and across Europe for the past 60 years," Foschi said.

Costa Crociere corporate human resources head Alessandro Centrone said "the opening of the school in Manila meets our demand for a significant increase in the number of shipboard professionals receiving specific, interactive training before they start work on our ships."

Centrone said the company planned to boost the number of its recruits graduating from its schools by over 50 by next year.

The company expects new hires will reach 9,000 from 2008 to 2010.