Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises Names Mario Zanetti as New President

When Neil Palomba departed his role with Costa Cruises last summer, he left some pretty big shoes to fill. We now know who will be filling those shoes as the cruise industry looks to bounce back from a tough year. 

Mario Zanetti has been promoted to President of Costa Cruises, taking a role that had been temporarily filled by Michael Thamm, Group CEO, Costa Group & Carnival Asia. In his new position, Zanetti will oversee Costa Cruises across the world, including Asia, with the goal of growing the brand. 

Costa Cruises

Mario Zanetti

“The pause in our ship operations has been an opportunity to work on enhancing the Costa organization to make our company stronger, ready for the restart with renewed energy, a clear commercial strategy and a greater customer-centric approach” – said Michael Thamm, Group CEO, Costa Group and Carnival Asia. “We look to the future with optimism. With this new organization we have the right people and skills to succeed in developing innovative strategies to attract and retain our customers through every channel and every source market”.

Zanetti has a long history with Costa Cruises starting in 1999 when he worked with the Revenue Management team. In 2017 he was named President of Costa Asia and since July 2020, he has served as Chief Commercial Officer of Costa Cruises Europe. 

Costa Cruises

Roberto Alberti

Costa Cruises also appointed Roberto Alberti as Chief Commercial Officer, the position previously held by Mario Zanetti. Alberti will hold the responsibility of the overall commercial operations, including Sales, Revenue Management and Marketing worldwide.

Alberti worked his way up through various positions with the cruise line over a period of 15 years in Italy and abroad. In 2016, he joined the CEO Office reporting to Michael Thamm, Group CEO Costa Group & Carnival Asia. In 2019, he was appointed SVP & Chief Strategy Officer of the Costa Group contributing to the definition of a sustainable development plan, the global source market strategy and brand positioning.

Best of luck to both of them as they usher in a new era at Costa Cruises!