Costa Cruises laid off 80 employees in South Florida last week as part of a shift in strategy.

The Genoa, Italy-based cruise operator said its dominance in Europe enables it to fetch higher prices for its Caribbean cruises by selling them to Europeans, instead of Americans, who aren't as familiar with the brand. As a result, the company is shifting certain finance, accounting, revenue management, and sales and marketing tasks from Hollywood, Fla., to Italy and cutting some field jobs.

``We analyzed our Caribbean market and realized we would draw higher yields [the revenue generated per berth per day], if we focused on marketing the Caribbean to Europeans,'' said Maurice Zarmati, president and CEO of Costa's North American operations.

The cruise line, which is a unit of Carnival Corp., had previously decided to reduce its capacity in the Caribbean, operating just one ship, the Costa Atlantica, there instead of two. It plans to sail that ship out of the Port of Miami beginning in January 2011 rather than Port Everglades, because Miami International Airport has more flights from Europe.