Pier Luigi Foschi to Retire as CEO of Costa Group; Michael Thamm to Become CEO

Carnival Corporation and its subsidiary, Costa Crociere, have announced that Pier Luigi Foschi will retire as the cruise operator’s Chief Executive Officer effective 1 July 2012.

Foschi, 65, will remain as Chairman and a managing director of the Costa Group and remain on the Board of Directors of Carnival Corporation & plc.

The moves are part of a long-term succession plan which included the scheduled retirement of Foschi once he reached the age of 65 last September.

Michael Thamm, currently serving as President of Germany-based AIDA Cruises, has been appointed CEO of the Costa Group, which includes Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises, as well as Spanish cruise operator Ibero Cruises. Thamm will also serve on Costa's Board of Directors.

Thamm will relocate to Genoa, Italy, and, in his new role, will report to Costa’s Board of Directors, which, in addition to Foschi, includes Micky Arison and Howard Frank, Carnival Corporation & plc’s Chairman and CEO, and Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, respectively.

Longtime AIDA senior executive Michael Ungerer has been named AIDA Cruises’ President and Gianni Onorato will continue in his role as President of the Costa Cruises brand.

Foschi joined Costa Crociere in 1997 and was elected Chairman of the Board in 2000. Over the past 15 years, Foschi has played an integral role in the company’s tremendous growth and success while building upon its distinction as Europe’s number one cruise operator. Under Foschi’s leadership, the company launched an 11 billion euro fleet expansion program.

Costa Crociere S.p.A. has one of Europe’s largest fleets: 25 ships (14 Costa Cruises, 8 AIDA Cruises, 3 Iberocruceros) with total guest capacity of around 61,500. Six more new ships are set to enter service for the group by 2016 (2 for Costa Cruises, 4 for AIDA Cruises).

Since 2000 Foschi has presided over an increase in the company’s revenues from 572.4 million euros to 3.1 billion euros in 2011 (+ 540 %), with profits also constantly growing over the last 10 years. Also in the period from 2000 to 2011, the number of total guests carried rose from 363,000 to 2.3 million.

In his role as Costa’s Chairman, Foschi will continue to oversee the company’s government relations and matters related to the Costa Concordia accident, and spearhead a number of strategic projects.

“Pier has made it known for some time that he intended to retire once he turned 65 and today’s announcement is part of our longtime succession plan that allows us to tap into our talented management team to find qualified individuals to oversee our brands,” Arison said. “Pier has developed Costa into a very successful and profitable organization and we wish to thank him for his many years of dedicated service. At the same time, Michael has done a superb job managing AIDA Cruises and we have every confidence that Michael will continue these efforts at the helm of Costa.”

All of the various appointments are subject to approval by Costa’s Board.

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