Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/506094
Events 29 maltatoday, Sunday, 3 May 2015 MSC Cruises S.A., the world's larg- est privately-owned cruise line, and market leader in the Mediterrane- an, announced today that Riccardo Casalino had joined the Company's executive leadership at its global headquarters, in Geneva, Switzer- land, as the new Chief Marketing Of- ficer (CMO). Casalino, 46, has lived and worked internationally for 20 years, lead- ing various international marketing teams for Procter & Gamble Co., eBay (Europe) and, most recently, eDreams ODIGEO. He will report to Chief Executive Officer, Gianni Onorato. CEO Gianni Onorato said, "MSC Cruises is an ambitious young com- pany that grew 800% in its first 10 years, quickly becoming the fourth biggest cruise line in the industry. We're now on course for further ex- ponential growth through a €5 bil- lion plan to double our current fleet capacity by 2022, including through the introduction of seven ultra-mod- ern ships in two state-of-the-art pro- totypes. "Riccardo's broad international experience spanning travel, e-com- merce and consumer goods will be pivotal as we continue to build the MSC Cruises brand in step with the company's rapid and aggressive expansion programme. We need a world-class management team to ensure that we continue to provide distinct, best-in-class cruises experi- ences, even as we evolve and grow." Having served most recently as Group CMO for leading online travel company eDreams ODIGEO, in Bar- celona, Casalino managed a team of 120 people. Prior to that, he was Sen- ior Marketing Director for e-com- merce pioneer eBay (Europe), based in Zurich, where he repositioned the eBay brand and drove growth well above the European e-commerce average. But his mar- keting career began at consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, where he spent 16 years rising through the ranks, living and working in several countries across Europe. Casalino, who took up his post on 23 April, is the third addition to the MSC Cruises C-suite this year, fol- lowing the arrival of a new Chief Communications Officer, in March, and Chief Information Officer, ear- lier this month. In other news, MSC Cruises an- nounced this month that the first of its new Vista generation ships will be named MSC Meraviglia during the steel-cutting ceremony, at STX France's Saint-Nazaire shipyard. Complementing that, the Company revealed that its new ultramodern "Seaside" class ship will sail year- round from Miami to the Caribbean. About MSC Cruises S.A. MSC Cruises, part of the Mediter- ranean Shipping Company, is the market leader in the Mediterranean, South Africa and Brazil, and sails year-round in the Mediterranean. Its seasonal itineraries cover northern Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, the Car- ibbean and French Antilles, South America, southern Africa, as well as the Emirates and Oman. MSC Cruises feels a deep responsi- bility for the environments in which it operates, and was the first company ever to earn the Bureau Veritas "7 Golden Pearls" for superior manage- ment and environmental steward- ship. In 2009, MSC Cruises began an en- during partnership with UNICEF to support various programmes assist- ing children worldwide. So far, more than €3m has been collected in vol- untary guest donations. MSC Cruises was born in the Medi- terranean, and draws inspiration from this heritage to create a unique experience for holidaymakers world- wide. Its fleet comprises 12 modern ships: MSC Preziosa; MSC Divina; MSC Splendida; MSC Fantasia; MSC Magnifica; MSC Poesia; MSC Orchestra; MSC Musica; MSC Sinfo- nia; MSC Armonia; MSC Opera and MSC Lirica. MSC Cruises are exclusively repre- sented in the Maltese Islands by Ham- ilton Travel Co. Ltd of 4, St.Publius Street, Floriana. Kia Motors continues to reel in awards for its outstanding design. Now the Kia Sorento, the brand's f lagship SUV, has received the pres- tigious 'iF Design Award' for the first time. The jury of the globally recognised design awards programme hon- oured the third generation of the Sorento, which goes on sale across Europe later on this year, with an award in the Product category. As well as awarding the car for the overall quality of its design, the jury rated the car on criteria such as fin- ish, degree of innovation, environ- mental impact and safety. The all-new Kia Sorento is the seventh Kia model to secure an iF Design Award. In every year since 2010, at least one of the coveted awards has been scooped by Kia Motors, with previous winners from the brand including the Kia Venga, Sportage, Optima, Picanto, pro cee'd and Soul. "I am very proud of this award for the Kia Sorento because it is recog- nition of the great advances in qual- ity we have succeeded in achieving in this model," said Peter Schreyer, President and Chief Design Officer of Kia Motors Corporation. "The Kia Sorento unites the clas- sic poise of an SUV with a premium look and feel that is particularly tangible in the cabin. "It offers the very highest design quality and excellent value for mon- ey. This is largely the achievement of our international design teams – which is also why I am so delighted with this award." The new Kia Sorento was devel- oped by the Kia design team in Namyang, Korea, assisted by the Kia Design Centres in Frankfurt, Germany, and Irvine, California. The new Kia Sorento is a stylish and practical SUV with exceptional versatility and practicality. The smoother, swept-back profile and deeply sculpted surfaces give the Kia Sorento a lithe, elegant appear- ance. The spacious interior follows the horizontal lines of the overall de- sign concept and delivers a luxuri- ous look and feel with top-quality materials throughout the cabin. The new Kia Sorento, which is available with five or seven seats, has a longer wheelbase and provides more passenger room than its pred- ecessor. The luggage area is larger, and thanks to the sliding, 60:40- split seat row it is even more versa- tile, holding up to 1,732 litres. High-tech specifications and a range of premium features, includ- ing the 360-degree Around View Monitor and smart parking system make it easy to manoeuvre and park. Buyers can also choose from the latest safety assistance systems, from lane departure warning to rear cross traffic alert and traffic sign recognition, through to adap- tive cruise control. Since it was launched in 1953, the annual iF Design Award has become one of the world's most important prizes for excellence in design. The award has its origins in the Form- gerechte Industrieerzeugnisse (Good Industrial Design) product shows initiated by the Hannover Messe, and is now one of the world's largest design competitions. The iF Design Award is presented in five disciplines. In 2015, compa- nies from 53 countries participated in the iF design awards programme, submitting 4,783 designs. The new Kia Sorento was honoured in the 'Automobiles / Vehicles / Bikes' cat- egory. Enter the Kia world by visiting Cars International, Mdina Road, Qormi. For more information or to book a test drive send an email to kiasales@cil.com.mt, call on 2269 2120, visit the website www.kia. com/mt or Facebook page Kia Mo- tors Malta. After an absence of three years from the local calendar, the Marsa Open Tennis tournament was held recently thanks to MSV Life who signed an agreement to sponsor the tourna- ment with Marsa Sports Club for three years. Matthew Asciak and Elaine Gen- ovese dominated the Men's and La- dies Singles title. The 24-year-old As- ciak overcame Ben Farrugia 6-0 6-0, Raphael Sammut 6-1 6-1, and in the semi-final Asciak beat Matthew Cas- sar Torregiani 6-0 6-0. In the final, Asciak, the Malta Open champion for the past 10 years, prevailed Bernard Cassar Torregiani 6-2 6-1. On the way to the final, Cassar Tor- regiani defeated Miguel Galea 6-1 6-1, Denzil Aguis 6-3 6-1. In the semi-fi- nal, Cassar Torregiani had the better of Bradley Callus 6-3 6-1. The Mens Singles final was of a very high level and 18-year-old Cassar Torregiani put up a very good show and the crowd present appreciated the excellent per- formance by both players. Elaine Genovese dominated the Ladies Singles Final overpowering her 11-year-old opponent in the final, Alina Shcherbinina, from Russia. Sh- cherbinina, who has been training at the Gordon Asciak Tennis School for the past 4 years, impressed one and all and was definitely the surprise of this year's edition. Genovese, 24, beat Georgina Farrugia Sacco 6-0 6-0 in the semi-final, whil in the other semi-final Shcherbinina shook the tournament when she beat Malta's no 2 player Katrina Sammut 6/4 7/5. Shcherbinina trailed 4-1 in the first set but her different array of strokes and the ability to change the game at the right time enabled her to unsettle Sammut to eventually win in 2 sets. In the final, Alina faced Genovese, Malta's top player. It was obvious that Genovese would overpower Shcher- binina, but the young, sturdy Russian still managed to put her older op- ponent under pressure at times and managed to win 3 games. Final score Genovese beat Shcherbinina 6/1 6/2. Asciak underlined his status as the country's leading playing by mak- ing it a double victory winning the Men's Doubles Final with Bradley Callus. Asciak/Callus dominated the tournament, disposing of B. Cassar Torregiani/M. Cassar Torregiani 6-2 6-1. Asciak/Callus defeated Miguel Galea/Nicky Sullivan 6-1 6-1. In the Final, Asciak/Callus outclassed Mark Gatt/Denzil Aguis 6-0 6-1 in a one- sided final. The presentation of the MSV Life Marsa Open was held on court No. 1 after the last match. Attending the presentation was Norman Mifsud representing MSV Life, Chairman of the Marsa Sports Club tennis sec- tion Godwin Borg and David Farrugia Sacco, President of the Malta Tennis Federation. It has now become an an- nual calendar event for CareMalta to organize its yearly sports day for all its employees. This year, the event took place on the 27 April at St Aloysius training grounds. Employees from the nine different homes that the company oper- ates together with the employees from head of- fice, got together to com- pete and have fun in vari- ous games and activities. "The aim behind such an activity is to try and gather most of our em- ployees all together in this special day, when all work related issues are forgot- ten and everyone enjoys himself by participat- ing in various activities, whilst at the same time keeping fit through these fun games", commented CareMalta's CEO, Nath- alie Briffa Farrugia. The turnout for such an activity is always a favourable one and this represents the positive and encouraging attitude of the employees, to par- ticipate in the company's extra curriculum activi- ties. On this day, employees are supported by their families and friends who join them to be part of the fun. Those employees not taking part are always en- couraged to come along and still support their working mates. This year the event was won by Ca- sa Arkati. CareMalta is part of Vassallo Group and em- ploys more than 800 em- ployees. New Chief Marketing Officer joins global management team at Med. market leader MSC Cruises CareMalta organizes its yearly Sports Day Prestigious design award for new Kia Sorento Matthew Asciak and Elaine Genovese champions of MSV Life Marsa Open Tennis Riccardo Casalino Care Malta employees at their annual sports day