Company

COSTA EDUTAINMENT

Costa Edutainment S.p.A, with almost thirty years of pioneering experience in the sector of edutainment, is the leader in Italy in the management of sites and large public and private structures dedicated to recreational, cultural and didactic activities and scientific research.

The word Edutainment, acronym for Educational and Entertainment, is the best definition of our company’s mission: meet the growing request for a qualitative way to spend leisure time, combining culture, education, entertainment, emotion and fun in unique and meaningful experiences.

Costa Edutainment, manages 12 structures in Italy: in Liguria the Aquarium of Genoa, one of the largest aquariums in Europe, the Biosphere, the Bigo panoramic lift, La Città dei Bambini e dei Ragazzi, an experience museum dedicated to the five senses, the Caravelle water park and the Caravelle Village tourist village in Ceriale; on the Romagna Riviera the Cattolica Aquarium, the Oltremare2.0, Aquafan and Italia in Miniatura parks, and in Tuscany the Livorno Aquarium, in Abruzzo the Acquapark Onda Blu.

Costa Edutainment records around 3 million visitors per year managed directly and more than 13 million visitors per year through investees, more than 900 employees and a turnover of around 79 million euros in 2024.

The group includes C-WAY, the edutainment tour operator whose mission is to manage incoming visitors to the sites and facilities managed by the group, enriching them with unforgettable travel experiences, respectful of the places and their values, enhanced by moments of discovery of Italian history, art, environment, and traditions. In approximately 100 destinations, it offers the best of Italy's heritage, always seeking new, unique and special itineraries that convey the beauty and identity of the places.
Costa Edutainment supervised the transformation of the old Zoological Garden of Rome into “Bioparco” (biopark) from 1998 to July 2004, when Bioparco S.p.A. was turned into “Fondazione Bioparco di Roma” (foundation Biopark of Rome).

Until August 2017 he managed the National Museum of Antarctica, until February 2020 Dialogo nel Buio, the sensory exhibition-journey in the absence of light, and until September 2021 the Galata Museo del Mare.

Since 2004, Costa Edutainment is a member of the “Associazione Festival della Scienza” (Science Festival asso-ciation); it is the organizer of the scientific exhibition which takes place every year in Genoa and in the Liguria Region at the end of October.

Since 2008, Costa Edutainment is a partner of “Genova Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura” (Genova Palazzo Ducale Culture Foundation), an institution instructed to enhance the heritage of the initiatives and of the cultural networks, within a strategy which aims at guaranteeing a strong bond between the urban requalification and the quality of culture, for the city’s benefit.

The entrepreneurial spirit, the strong educational mission and the close relation with the territory, make Costa Edutain-ment a unique group in Italy, capable of ensuring a high level of local involvement as well as a strong economic impact on the areas where it operates.

The share capital of the Costa Edutainment group is held by the Costa family, with particular reference to the Chairman and CEO Giuseppe Costa, a 70% shareholder, and by the DeA Capital Group, through the Flexible Capital Fund, a 30% shareholder.

This investment aims to consolidate the group's leadership, continuing the path of constant growth recorded in the pre-pandemic years, also through the acquisition of new parks and new facilities both nationally and internationally.

Costa Edutainment, a member of the Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS) since 2022, has consolidated its commitment to sustainability throughout its thirty-year growth journey, aiming to generate positive social and envi-ronmental impacts in the communities where it operates. Indeed, Costa Edutainment's approach to its business aims to balance economic, social, and environmental aspects, with the belief that a company's value can grow most when it integrates ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria into its business processes.

Since 2014 Costa Edutainment has also chosen to report annually on the non-financial aspects of its business through the Integrated Report;in 2019 the company received the important recognition of the Special Award in the Integrated Reporting category of the Oscar di Bilancio for the Best Italian Integrated Report from Ferpi, Borsa Italiana and Bocconi University.

Costa Edutainment is also involved in Italian Entertainment Network (IEN), an Italian operator in the management of large events and services for cultural activities, of which Beppe Costa, Costa Edutainment Group Chairman, is currently a board memmber.
In September 2023, Beppe Costa through Poggio 13, a company headed by Costa himself, repurchased the bonds and minority shares of Opera20, of which he is currently chairman, held by U.S. investor Pricoa Private Capital, thus acquiring 100 percent ownership. Through its subsidiary Opera Laboratori, Opera20 now manages all the "additional services" of more than 60 Italian cultural so-cieties, including the Uffizi, the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, the Bargello Muse-ums, the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and Herculaneum the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Cathedral Complex of Siena, Villa Giulia in Rome, the Pina-coteca di Brera, the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, the Synagogues and Jewish Muse-ums in Florence and Siena ol-tre the Ghetto, the Jewish Museum and the five synagogues in Venice. The Opera Group has 800 employees and a turnover of about 60 million euros, and also owns the publishing house Sillabe.
The transaction aims to develop the industrial integration between the Costa Edutainment and Opera Laboratori groups aimed at consolidating the leadership in Italy in the edutainment sector and in the management and valor-isation of Italian cultural heritage.