According to a press release by the company, Costa Cruises will call 2,800 times at 92 Mediterranean ports during the course of 2011. The total number of passengers involved will be just over nine million – a number that clearly underlines the fact that Costa is the undisputed leader in this region.

The Mediterranean is of course one of the fastest growing cruise destinations in the world today. The figures quoted by Costa Cruises represent a 33% increase compared to those of last year.

The country that will benefit most from the growth in Costa Cruises traffic is Italy. The cruise line will bring a total of no less than four million passengers to Italian shores during 2011 – more than a third of all cruise passengers expected to visit Italy this year. These figures are even more impressive when taken into account that Costa only carried two million passengers to Italy during 2010.

After Italy the most popular destinations for Costa Cruises are Spain and Greece, each of them getting a total of more than a million cruise passengers through Costa. France is fourth in line with over half a million visitors.

In total, Costa cruise ships will be calling at 92 Mediterranean ports. Of these 21 are in Italy, 11 are in Greece, 17 are in Spain and nine are in France.

Costa’s huge growth in the Mediterranean will in part be made possible by the introduction of their new flagship, the Costa Favolosa. This 114,500 ton ship has the capacity to carry 3,780 cruise passengers. It will depart on its maiden voyage from Venice on the 4th July 2011.