Page 48 - BILANCIO DI SOSTENIBILITÀ 2019 RISULTATI E PROSPETTIVE

49

SUPPORTING

VALUE

CREATION

Tourism represents an important source of employment and is a driver of social and economic
well-being in many countries, since it is a catalyst for reinvestment of resources in the local
economy. As regards developing countries in particular, maritime tourism linked to coastal
areas is a dynamic industry constituting one of the main sources of prosperity for many local
economies. In 2019 the cruise industry was one of the fastest growing global tourism sectors;
however, it accounts for only 2% of global tourism, meaning there is still great potential
for future growth. Given this market context and the impacts arising from the management
of the flow of visitors, the cruise industry is implementing systematic actions and strategic
partnerships aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability and responsible tourism. The
scale of the wealth generated is massive in terms of direct, indirect and induced impact: in
2018 the global impact of the cruise industry amounted to $150 billion and accounted for 1.1
million jobs . Just as important are the intangible benefits such as the dissemination of know-
1
how and the offer of expertise and collaboration: these are enablers of the consolidation
and, where necessary, transformation of the capacity to manage guest hospitality. In line with
UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization), Costa Cruises is determined to be
a key player in this process of change. This entails the ability to act on many levels, harnessing
the enormous flows generated and turning them into value while balancing environmental,
economic and socio-cultural aspects, and also ensuring long-term sustainability, safety and
security. For this reason, the Company is committed to taking concrete actions. We encourage
participatory dialogue in order to help find shared solutions together with local communities
and institutions, planning investments in our ports of call; the aim is to guarantee systematic
local development based on continuity and also to identify preventive and precautionary
measures to monitor the impacts generated by our activities. This is possible thanks to Costa’s
cultural roots in the areas where we operate and also to our determination and capacity to act
CLIA, State of the Cruise Industry Outlook 2020. as enablers well aware of our role in ambitious projects that engage people directly.
1