MIAMI (March 3, 2009) – Costa, Europe’s Number One Cruise Line, was named “Cruise Line of the Year” by TRAVELhotnews.com in its “Awards of Merit 2008.” The TRAVELhotnews.com “Awards of Merit” contest is an initiative of Canada-based travel trade publication Logimonde Inc., and was created to highlight the efforts of all professionals in the travel industry.

“We are thrilled to receive this tremendous honor by TRAVELhotnews.com and appreciate the recognition they’ve given us,” said Scott Knutson, vice president of sales for Costa Cruise Lines—North America. “Our Canadian travel agent partners are an exceptional support to us and we look forward to continuing the strong relationships we have with them.”

“Canadian travel industry professionals came together for the Awards of Merit to recognize the work of their colleagues regarding professionalism, leadership, dynamism, cooperation and kindness,” said Uguette Chiasson, publisher of TRAVELhotnews.com. “Costa Cruises is part of this group that was chosen during our contest and should be very proud.”

Costa Cruises is Italy and Europe’s number one cruise line. For the past 60 years its ships have sailed the world, offering the best in Italian style, hospitality and cuisine and providing dream vacations with the best in fun and relaxation. In 2007 over 1.1 million guests chose to cruise with Costa, a record for the European cruise industry. The company’s 12 fleet members, each with her own distinctive characteristics and unique style, all fly the Italian flag and sail each year to 250 destinations in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Baltic Sea, the Caribbean, South America, the United Arab Emirates, the Far East and the Indian Ocean.

Two more new ships – the Costa Luminosa and Costa Pacifica – are due for delivery at the end of April and the end of May 2009, and will be christened together in Genoa, Italy on June 5 this year. Three additional ships are on order. Costa Cruises has been certified by RINA (Italian Shipping Register) with the BEST4, an integrated system of voluntary certification of corporate compliance with the highest standards governing social accountability (SA 8000, issued in 2001), environment (UNI EN ISO 14001, 2004), safety (OHSAS 18001, 1999) and quality (UNI EN ISO 9001, 2000). All ships in the Costa fleet have been assigned RINA’s Green Star notation certifying that they are operated in compliance with the highest environmental protection standards. Costa Cruises is an official partner of the WWF for the protection of the marine ecoregions of the Mediterranean, the Greater Antilles and Brazil. In Mediobanca’s 2008 survey of over 3,700 Italian enterprises that recorded revenue of at least 50 million euros the previous fiscal year, Costa Crociere S.p.A. ranks 72nd in terms of sales and in 12th place in regards to profitability.