Costa Cruises introduces Hotel Academy

Arenzano - The first training Academy for on-board hospitality was presented. The new centre, whose inauguration is planned for October 2016, will be based at the prestigious Villa Figoli di Arenzano (Genoa). It will be the first school in Italy dedicated exclusively to the training of hospitality professionals who will work on passenger ships, for example, cooks, pastry chefs, bakers, event leaders, client service specialists and other roles linked to on-board hospitality and entertainment.

The school will be managed by the ITS Accademia Italiana Marina Mercantile Foundation, which has already planned to offer courses for event leaders, client service specialists and cooks, for a total of 60 students. The new training resource offered by Accademia together with Costa Cruises (creating a temporary association of companies with the cruise line) is calling for applications from unemployed persons over the age of 24, it was announced last August by the Region of Liguria and financed with FSE funds.

The first phase of courses started at alternative locations while the second round will start in October 2016 at Villa Figoli: these will be the first pupils to enjoy the new premises and equipment at the prestigious renovated villa in Arenzano. Costa Cruises has already committed to hire at least 60% of those trained through these courses, or at least 36 trainees. In addition to this initial offering of training, the Istruzione Tecnica Superiore (ITS) is offering another programme which has already received financing from the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) for the training of professional on-board pastry chefs and bakers.

In this case there will be 22 jobs available and for this educational project Costa Cruises has expressed an interest in hiring at least 70 percent of the trainees who successfully complete the training programme. The course will have an overall duration of about 1 and a half years and will alternate classroom training with on-board apprenticeships. The courses will be free and are intended for young people in search of employment. The regional programme for the Istituti Tecnici Superiori also includes a course for on-board cooks which the Accademia Foundation will contribute to financing at the next public notice from the Region of Liguria concerning ITS programmes: this is yet another training programme that could be offered at the villa in Arenzano in the autumn. “At the new Academy at Villa Figoli, Costa Cruises will suggest new opportunities for training to its educational partner, qualified training programmes leading to jobs for Italian and European Community maritime workers, but also training for our current operational personnel. This is a further confirmation of our commitment to create value in Italy. Our appreciation also goes to the governmental institutions for having succeeded in creating a school that previously didn’t exist in Italy and which will certainly represent a new opportunity and impetus for the professions of the sea,” said Neil Palomba, president of Costa Cruises.