Costa Cruises has appointed a new Vice President of China, Buhdy Bok, who will head the local operations of the Italian company. Costa Cruises was the first international cruise company to open the cruise market in China, selling its “Italian Style” cruises to the Chinese. After six years of intense activity in the country, Costa Cruises now boasts local offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong and homeports in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tianjin. In 2012, Costa Cruises will expand its offer in the region with the deployment, starting from May, for the first time, of the Costa Victoria (75,200 gross tonnage and 2,394 total guests). The company hopes that Bok will support its in China, a strategic market for the future development of the largest Italian travel group and no.1 cruise company in Europe.
Previously, Bok held various positions at Singapore Airlines, both at the company’s headquarters in Singapore and abroad. This included the responsibility for "Eastern China and Jiangsu” area, and, more recently, for the Italian market, in the Milan office. At Costa, Bok will report to the Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing, Norbert Stiekema, and will be responsible for further developing the network of travel agencies and trading partners of the Italian Company in Mainland China.