A shipowner will host one of the top spots at next year’s Posidonia show in Greece.
Greek shipping tycoon George Procopiou has acquired the entire share capital of the Astir Palace hotel group from Middle East interests, having bought a 30% stake last October. The portfolio includes four hotels, the centrepiece being the Four Seasons Astir Palace in Vouliagmeni, south of Athens, which tends to host some of the largest gatherings at the biennial Posidonia.
Procopiou is one of Greece’s largest shipowners with companies including Dynagas and Dynacom. He has also built an international real estate portfolio comprising more than 2,500 properties.
Shipowners have had a long history of buying into hotels. In Japan, Meiji Shipping, Shoei Kisen and Uni-Asia all have hotel interests, as does Sea Consortium’s Tim Hartnoll and Graham Porter from Tiger Group Investments. In Norway, many families have hotel and shipping holdings including the Glastads, the Wenaas family and Finn Olsen Rederi.
Among the largest hoteliers cum shipowners is Singapore-based Kuok Group, whose shipping interests include Pacific Carriers, while its global hotel brand is the five-star Shangri-La chain.
Aristote Onassis, arguably the most famous shipowner in history, owned Monaco’s Hôtel de Paris for much of the 1950s and 1960s before falling out with then ruler, Prince Rainier III.
