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Costa Cruises and the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) have announced that the new Costa Deliziosa will be named in Dubai. Costa and DTCM will team up for the event, which marks the first time a cruise ship will be named in an Arabian city.

The new Costa flagship will be inaugurated on Feb. 23. The naming ceremony will take place during the ship’s Grand Inaugural cruise, departing from Savona, Italy, on Feb. 5, and calling in Dubai, Feb. 23 to 26. Guests sailing on the first leg of the maiden cruise will be able to attend the exclusive inaugural ceremony.

In winter 2009-10, Costa’s ships are expected to bring 140,000 passenger movements to Dubai, thanks to the presence of three ships -- the Costa Luminosa, the Costa Deliziosa and the Costa Europa -- for a total of 32 calls.

The estimated economic impact will be approximately 14 million euros, coming from Costa guests’ direct spending, shore excursions, transfers, cruise operation expenditures and general expenditures (food and beverage). In addition to Costa Cruises’ ships, one AIDA Cruises ship, AIDAdiva (69,200 tons, 2,500 total guests), will call 20 times in Dubai during the winter 2009-10 season.