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Imagining Greece: How Tourism Shaped a Nation
Imagining Greece is a digital exhibition that explores the evolution of tourism in Greece from the end of World War II to the closing chapters of the Cold War. The exhibition examines multiple aspects of the phenomenon by showcasing a wealth of textual and visual material curated from a wide range of state and private archival repositories and sources, including the Greek National Tourism Organisation, architectural firms, advertising agencies and both domestic and foreign press and periodicals. It is further enriched by an ongoing oral history project that captures firsthand experiences from specialists and the general public. We hope this exhibition will bring the history of tourism in Greece to life while deepening understanding of its profound impact—both on Greek society itself and on the millions of international visitors whose journeys have helped transform Greece into one of the world's most beloved destinations.

Our Team
We are an interdisciplinary team with expertise spanning history, visual culture, design studies, architectural history, cultural heritage, and digital humanities. Led by Professor Eirini Karamouzi (Principal Investigator) and Dr Mary Ikoniadou (Co-Investigator), our team includes:

Dr Stavros Alifragkis and Dr Emilia Athanasiou (Scientific and Artistic Curators, Lead Researchers), Dr Christos Christidis (Special Advisor), Despina Tsilimagkou (Digital Humanities Director), Dr Marina Emmanouil, Dr Metaxia Papageorgiou and Dr Aphrodite Kamara (Researchers). Our work has been generously supported by the Onassis Foundation, the National Bank of Greece and Research England. We are honoured to have the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and the Greek Ministry of Tourism as our patrons, and we work closely with Greece’s National Historical Museum.

Our Goal
Our goal is to make Imagining Greece a widely accessible digital exhibition that serves as a valuable resource for schools, universities, tourism professionals, and the public in Greece and beyond. We aim to promote a deeper understanding of tourism as a crucial element of Greek culture, economy, politics, and society. The exhibition is organised around four thematic experiences: Picture, Travel, Discover, and Remember. Each theme presents carefully chosen artefacts in an intuitive, easy-to-explore journey. Visitors will explore a rich collection of promotional materials, including advertising, audio-visual culture, periodicals, commercial and government sources, tourist guides, tourism infrastructure and architecture, cultural artefacts from folklore, feasts and festivals, leisure activities, books about Greece, souvenirs, vacation photographs, and postcards. The entire spectrum of Greece as a tourism destination is accessible through the thematic experiences, the interactive map, or the chronological timeline.

The Future of Imagining Greece
Imagining Greece will continue to grow with new artefacts, and we welcome your contributions. If you have relevant materials to share, please contact us at: info@imagininggreece.com

Legal Notice / Disclaimer
Every reasonable effort has been made to trace and contact the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this digital exhibition, ‘Imagining Greece: How Tourism Shaped a Nation, 1945-1989’, and to obtain their permission for the use of copyrighted material. We apologise for any omissions in acknowledging copyright. If you own the copyright for any material used on our website and believe it infringes upon your rights, please contact us directly at info@imagininggreece.com

Acknowledgements
We thank the numerous institutions and private individuals who have contributed their valuable archival materials to this project:

Benaki Museum’s Photographic Archives Department, Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Greek Film Archive, Greek National Tourism Organisation, Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive, Hellenic National AudioVisual Archive - Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, Hellenic Touring Club, Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece – National Historical Museum, Historical Archive of the National Bank of Greece, Constantinos A. Doxiadis Archives, ‘Konstantinos G. Karamanlis’ Foundation, The Library of the Hellenic Parliament, Modern Greek Architecture Archives of the Benaki Museum, National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, Neraida Floating Museum - John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, Olympic Airways Workers Cultural Center, Philatelic Postal Museum, Spyros Vassiliou Archive - Dominum Artifex NPO, The Alpha Bank Art Collection, The Ghika Gallery - Benaki Museum.

Dimitris Antonakakis – Atelier 66, Archimidis & Eleni Athanassiou, Tasos Biris – Tassos Biris Architectural Firm, Vassilis Bogakos, Vassilis Giannakis, Panos Haratzopoulos, Erifyli Hontolidou, Maro Kardamitsi-Adami, Yannis Karlopoulos, Kostas Katsigiannis, Konstantinos Lyssaridis – ETETH SA, Eirini Philippides, Marina Philippides – AMK Architecture + Design, Jenny Perivolari, Christos Rallis & Georgia Sovatzoglou, Vassia Stylianidi – WOBI Architects, Vaggelis Stylianidis - Stylianidis Vaggelis Architects, Nicos Valsamakis – N. Valsamakis Architectural Firm, Ioannis Vikelas – Vikelas Architects.

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Picture
Travel
Discover
Remember

Travel / Institutions & Companies

Tour Operators & Travel Agents Greek Diaspora Government Agencies Transport Chambers & Clubs Banks

Displaying 50/50 artefacts

12 Motor Coach Tours artifact
12 Motor Coach Tours
Poster
Aegean Cruises 1955 artifact
Aegean Cruises 1955
Brochure
Eurotrain advertisement artifact
Eurotrain advertisement
Print Ad
Olympic Airways 1983 - A more civilised way to fly artifact
Olympic Airways 1983 - A more civilised way t...
Print Ad
The Civilized Way to See Greece in 1984. artifact
The Civilized Way to See Greece in 1984.
Brochure
TWA flies to Greece in the 1950s artifact
TWA flies to Greece in the 1950s
Poster
National Greek Airlines (TAE) artifact
National Greek Airlines (TAE)
Print Ad
1955 Aegean Cruises artifact
1955 Aegean Cruises
Brochure
A Welcome to Greece by the Tourist Police artifact
A Welcome to Greece by the Tourist Police
Brochure
Travel to sunny Mediterranean with Olympic Cruises S/A artifact
Travel to sunny Mediterranean with Olympic Cr...
Poster
1955 Aegean Cruises with M/S Semiramis artifact
1955 Aegean Cruises with M/S Semiramis
Poster
12 Tours by CHAT artifact
12 Tours by CHAT
Poster
1951 Homecoming Year artifact
1951 Homecoming Year
Poster
Flying to Greece with Air France artifact
Flying to Greece with Air France
Poster
4Oth Supreme Convention of the Order of AHEPA 1964 artifact
4Oth Supreme Convention of the Order of AHEPA...
Map
Brochure
48th Supreme Convention of the Order of AHEPA 1970 artifact
48th Supreme Convention of the Order of AHEPA...
Stamp
American Express Finance & Travel Office, Athens artifact
American Express Finance & Travel Office, Ath...
Photograph
Restaurant Pamela's at Voula artifact
Restaurant Pamela's at Voula
Photograph
Fly to Greece with TWA Jets 1959 artifact
Fly to Greece with TWA Jets 1959
Poster
Fly to Greece with TWA artifact
Fly to Greece with TWA
Postcard
Poster
Olympic Airways 1982 - Star Quality artifact
Olympic Airways 1982 - Star Quality
Print Ad
Olympic Airways 1980 - Airbus A300 artifact
Olympic Airways 1980 - Airbus A300
Print Ad
Olympic Airways 1958 - Fly with a DC-6 artifact
Olympic Airways 1958 - Fly with a DC-6
Print Ad
Olympic Airways 1960 - Fly with a Comet artifact
Olympic Airways 1960 - Fly with a Comet
Postcard
Olympic Airways 1957 - A new era artifact
Olympic Airways 1957 - A new era
Print Ad
Grèce 10 Tours en Autocar artifact
Grèce 10 Tours en Autocar
Poster
1956 Aegean Cruises with M/S Semiramis artifact
1956 Aegean Cruises with M/S Semiramis
Poster
The first bus tours of GNTO artifact
The first bus tours of GNTO
Photograph
The "Neraida" (fiary) sailing the Greek seas artifact
The "Neraida" (fiary) sailing the Greek seas
Photograph
"Neraida" maneeuvering in Hydra Port artifact
"Neraida" maneeuvering in Hydra Port
Photograph
The "Aegean" anchored in Gialos Santorini artifact
The "Aegean" anchored in Gialos Santorini
Photograph
Social Welfare Holidays Program 1983-84 artifact
Social Welfare Holidays Program 1983-84
Pamphlet
Social Welfare Holidays Program 1985-86 artifact
Social Welfare Holidays Program 1985-86
Pamphlet
Social Welfare Holidays Program 1986-87 artifact
Social Welfare Holidays Program 1986-87
Pamphlet
The Greece the crowds don't know artifact
The Greece the crowds don't know
Print Ad
If work gets you down don't change your job, change your holiday artifact
If work gets you down don't change your job,...
Print Ad
Olympic Airways – First Transatlantic Flight artifact
Olympic Airways – First Transatlantic Flight
Stamp Proof
First flights: connecting Greece and Europe artifact
First flights: connecting Greece and Europe
Stamp
First flight cancellation
First flight Athens-Frankfurt artifact
First flight Athens-Frankfurt
Stamp
First flight cancellation
First flight Athens-Jeddah 1978 artifact
First flight Athens-Jeddah 1978
Stamp
First flight cancellation
Olympic Airways: Global Connections artifact
Olympic Airways: Global Connections
First flight cancellation
Lufthansa’s first flights from Thessaloniki artifact
Lufthansa’s first flights from Thessaloniki
First flight cancellation
First flight Heraklion-Frankfurt artifact
First flight Heraklion-Frankfurt
First flight cancellation
First flight Athens-Tokyo artifact
First flight Athens-Tokyo
First flight cancellation
Conservation and Development of Traditional Settlements artifact
Conservation and Development of Traditional S...
Study / Publication
KLM Brochure artifact
KLM Brochure
Brochure
She won't say "Hello" artifact
She won't say "Hello"
Print Ad
Olympic Airways Menu artifact
Olympic Airways Menu
Menu
Come home to Greece on the No.1 airline artifact
Come home to Greece on the No.1 airline
Take your παδιά back to Greece artifact
Take your παδιά back to Greece
Print Ad