AIDA Launches Its First Cruise Ship For The Chinese Market

Today, Costa Asia launches the first marketing campaign of the AIDA brand in the Chinese market. From April 2017, the AIDAbella will be deployed in China year round to offer a premium “Made in Germany” cruise vacation experience for the booming Chinese market.

“The ongoing growth of AIDA has made Germany the second biggest cruise market in the world. With our Costa Asia brand, we have pioneered the way into China since 2006 and were the first international shipping company to develop the cruise market there. The expansion of our product portfolio to include an AIDA Cruises ship in the fastest-growing market in the world is a strategic step for the further successful development of Costa and AIDA”, said Michael Thamm, CEO of the Costa Group.

AIDAbella will be prepared for service in Asia after a dockyard refit in spring of 2017. Without changing the essence of the successful AIDA brand, the ship and services will be customized to the wishes and demands of Chinese guests. Under the motto “cruise vacation Made in Germany, the ship will feature an authentic German Wirtshaus, plus a blend of Bavarian conviviality that meets with modern far eastern cuisine in the spacious 5-star buffet restaurant “World of Asia”, where the hot pot restaurant “Hot & Spicy” will be integrated.

Another unique experience on board will be the world renowned German Oktoberfest beer festival, giving beer lovers an authentic German style atmosphere to enjoy the wide range of beers from a famous German brewery.

A distinguishing feature of the AIDAbella is entertainment at the atrium theatre, a theatre visible from 3-decks and surrounded by glass walls with state of the art sound and visual effects for entertainment.

New on board as well are successful German brands such as Rimowa, Fissler and Hugo Boss and a host of other popular and high quality German and European brands for cosmetics, fashion, watches and jewelry.

“We are delighted to see a growing number of first time cruisers develop into our repeat guests over the last decade in China. The arrival of the AIDAbella in April 2017 will provide our Chinese guests with more vacation options in the premium segment and allow us to meet the expectations of a wider range of audience. ”said Buhdy Bok, Costa Asia President.

Christened in Rostock on April 23, 2008 by supermodel Eva Padberg, AIDAbella was the fifth ship in the AIDA fleet. Since then, the ship has welcomed more than 750,000 guests on board to explore the most beautiful holiday regions in the world – including the Baltic Sea, the Canaries, the Mediterranean, the Orient, Southeast Asia, USA and the Caribbean. Since going into service, AIDAbella has covered over 600,000 nautical miles.

AIDA cruises is deeply committed to social responsibilities and will be working with HandsOn Shanghai, a local NGO in China. Under a CSR program named ‘ Make A Difference’ AIDA and HandsOn Shanghai will be supporting under privileged children and encouraging them to make a difference through themed events such as Sports Day, Cruise Week Summer Camp, and tutoring sessions in science, nature, marine and navigation.

Press Release