New Tours In Turin For Costa Cruises Guests
As of 10th June, cruise passengers on the flagship Costa Diadema will be able to visit Turin every Saturday, thanks to the new excursions organised by Costa Cruises, City of Turin and Turismo Torino e Provincia
Turin, 8th June, 2017
Costa Cruises (www.costacruise.com) and the City of Turin are announcing exciting news for summer 2017: a discovery tour of Turin for passengers on Costa Diadema, the flagship of the Italian company.
The launch date of this initiative, accomplished thanks to the active collaboration of Turismo Torino e Provincia [Turin and Province Tourism], will be Saturday, 10th June and it will continue for the whole of 2017. Every Saturday, Costa Diadema passengers who disembark in Savona during one-week Mediterranean cruises will have the chance to go on a day trip to Turin and visit one of four of the city's tourist attractions: the Egyptian Museum, the National Cinema Museum, the Venaria Reale [Palace of Venaria] or the J-Museum. The tour will then continue to the historic city centre, where passengers will have some free time for shopping or to enjoy Turin's traditional cafés and restaurants, before returning to Savona.
"We are proud to be able to offer the Turin trip to guests on board our flagship Costa Diadema," said Giuseppe Carino, VP Guest Experience and Onboard Sales for Costa Cruises. "These new tours have been designed to accommodate various different interests in a single experience, in order to attract the largest number of people. These trips are also an excellent tourism promotion opportunity for the city, given that many Costa Diadema passengers come from abroad, France and Spain in particular."
"When you mention Turin and Savona in the same breath, the first thing that springs to mind is the one-way journey along the motorway which many Turin inhabitants use when driving to the beach. I therefore welcome, with great pleasure – and a touch of Savoy pride – the "Savona-Turin" trip, a journey in reverse," said the Mayor, Chiara Appendino. "A tourist package that will enable passengers on Costa Diadema, when it calls at the Ligurian port, to enjoy the extraordinary tourist attractions of Turin, before re-embarking for their next destination. This initiative, which originated from a collaboration between Costa Cruises and Turismo Torino e Provincia, will give the option of a day trip to Turin to visit one of our superb tourist attractions such as the Egyptian Museum, the National Cinema Museum, the Venaria Reale or the J-Museum, with time for a stroll through the city centre afterwards for shopping and to visit the famous cafés. Of course, a few hours is not long enough to be able to say you have ‘seen Turin'," added the Mayor, "but it's enough to whet your appetite, to the extent that many tourists will want to return to enjoy the full Turin experience."
The new tours of Turin give passengers the option of choosing between four different alternatives. Art and architecture lovers will want to visit the Venaria Reale complex, for a real journey back in time to the days of Duke Charles Emmanuel II, who had this magnificent residence built for hunting purposes. On the other hand, guests who adore the cinema will be able to choose an excursion which combines artistic beauty and cinema culture, with a visit to the National Cinema Museum, located in the Mole Antonelliana, the real symbol of the city.
The Costa Cruises excursions also include a visit that is must for any sightseer in Turin: the Egyptian Museum, one of the oldest museums of its type in the world, with its collection of over 5,000 artefacts, the second largest in existence. Then for sports enthusiasts, there is the J-Museum, one of the most high-tech sports museums in the world, dedicated to the history of Juventus and Italian football.
At the end of these four different visits, Costa Diadema passengers will meet in Piazza Castello, and will then join a guided "walking tour" of the historic centre, during which they can admire the squares and buildings which give Turin its unique allure. The programme also includes some free time for the passengers to taste the delicacies offered by the city's historic cafés and restaurants, such as the famous "bicerin" [traditional hot drink made of espresso, drinking chocolate and milk], at a special price.
Costa guests who purchase the excursion to Turin will be given a map produced by Turismo Torino e Provincia showing the locations of the museums, historic cafés and restaurants that are part of the initiative as well as information about the "Torino+Piemonte Card".
The visits to the Egyptian Museum, the National Cinema Museum the Venaria Reale and the J-Museum are run with the help of 150 volunteers from the civic tourism and cultural volunteer project "Torino&You" set up by the City of Turin, who will welcome Costa Diadema cruise passengers on their arrival.
As Maurizio Montagnese, Chairman of Turismo Torino e Provincia, points out, "When organising the city trips, we began thinking of places of interest that would appeal to cruise passengers right from the start; we believe that this initiative is an additional, prestigious opportunity for foreign tourists to get to know our city, particularly the French and Spanish tourists who are our most devoted visitors."
To ensure that the entire operation is a success, Costa Cruises is using all its communication channels to promote the destination, and it has made a video about the destination with the help of Turismo Torino e Provincia and the participating museums. This video will be shown on board Costa Diadema and can be viewed on the company's website in the section featuring Costa Diadema excursions.
The excursions will also be promoted in the CostaClub Magazine, the magazine dedicated to the most loyal Costa Cruises guests, as well as on the related website and in the newsletter.
Thanks go to the following for their collaboration:
Historic cafés
Caffè Elena – Caffè Reale – Caffè San Carlo – Gelateria Pepino dal 1884 – Torrefazione Moderna
Restaurants
Antica Bruschetteria Pautasso –Antico Balon – Caffè Baratti&Milano – Doppiozero – La Campana – La Maison de Marie – La Pergola Rosa – La Piola del forno – Le Fanfaron Bistrot – Le Vitel Etonné – Mbun SlowFastfood Corso Siccardi and via Rattazzi
For further information:
Costa Cruises
Press Office - Tel. +39 010 5483523 / 010 5483068 - costapressoffice@costa.it
Gabriele Baroni – Communication Director – mob. 3497668013 - baroni@costa.it
Davide Barbano - Media Relations Manager - 010.5483523 - 334.6525216 – barbano@costa.it
Turismo Torino e Provincia
Press Office
Silvia Lanza – mob. +39 3498504589 – s.lanza@turismotorino.org
