Chinese multinational Cosco’s persistence and patience over the past decade paid off in the end with the international port operator and shipper’s eventual purchase of a majority stake of the Piraeus Port Authority and its management, a development that generated positive ripples in Greece’s still crisis-battered economy.
According to sources who spoke with “N”, Cosco’s management of the port created favorable conditions for the return of the world’s biggest cruise operator to Piraeus, Carnival Cruises.
The US-based operator has reportedly agreed to include Piraeus as a home port and to reinvest in order to set up a network of Greek destinations. Market analysts have pointed to Carnival’s bid to energetically enter the massive Chinese tourism market before its main competitor, Royal Caribbean.
The same sources said the cruise ship operator is interested in utilizing a new airport on Crete when it opens, at the Kastelli site, as the primary entry point of Chinese tourists arriving for cruise ship holidays in the eastern Mediterranean.
