GNV, Valeri is going to Alitalia

Genova - Ariodante Valeri, general director of Grandi Navi Veloci, will be the next commercial director of Alitalia-Etihad. According to rumours from the capital, at the end of October the manager will not renew his contract with the Genoese navigation company where he has been working since 2007. He will fly to Rome to work on the re-launch of the former national airline. Valeri will join 58-year-old Silvano Cassano, who was CEO of GNV from 2006 to 2010 (and before that of the Benetton Group), and who is in pole position for the role of CEO. The 59-year-old Venetian, Valeri started his career in the hotel business in the 80s at Hilton. Later on he moved to Hertz, Targasys and Almaviva. He is considered the driving force behind the relaunch and restructuring of the company, a company which was founded (and later sold) by the ship-owner Aldo Grimaldi, that grew during the boom between the 90s and 2000s and had financial difficulties for the following decade. The rumours about Roberto Martinoli, current president of GNV, moving to Costa Cruises have been proved to be without substance. The leader of GNV since 2010 has renewed his contract. The contract renewal of CEO Giovanni Battista Vacchi, who joined GNV two years ago, is still under discussion.