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Experience

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About us

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. Please note that all images and materials remain the property of their respective copyright holders, and may not be reproduced, distributed, or otherwise used without their prior permission.

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
Displaying 25 artefacts
Stamps & Cancellations
48th Supreme Convention of the Order of AHEPA 1970 artifact

48th Supreme Convention of the Order of AHEPA...

Stamp
Unofficial first day cover (FDC) of the Festivals of Greece stamp set artifact

Unofficial first day cover (FDC) of the Festi...

Photograph
Stamp
Final proofs of the Ancient Greek Art stamp series artifact

Final proofs of the Ancient Greek Art stamp s...

Memorabilia
Stamp
Stamp proofs of the Ancient Greek Art stamp series artifact

Stamp proofs of the Ancient Greek Art stamp s...

Stamp
Stamp Proof
Proofs of the Northeast Aegean Greek Islands stamp series artifact

Proofs of the Northeast Aegean Greek Islands...

Coloured Stamp Design
Stamp and plate proofs for the Tourism stamp series artifact

Stamp and plate proofs for the Tourism stamp...

Stamp Proof
Commemorating International Tourist Year 1967 artifact

Commemorating International Tourist Year 1967

Stamp Proof
Printing plate for World Tourism Day artifact

Printing plate for World Tourism Day

Printing Plate
Proofs of Tourist Stamps Series artifact

Proofs of Tourist Stamps Series

Stamp Proof
Ports of Greece, 1958 Ordinary air-mail stamp series artifact

Ports of Greece, 1958 Ordinary air-mail stamp...

Stamp Proof
Stamp proofs for the Landscapes stamp series artifact

Stamp proofs for the Landscapes stamp series

Stamp Proof
Olympic Airways – First Transatlantic Flight artifact

Olympic Airways – First Transatlantic Flight

Stamp Proof
First flights: connecting Greece with Europe artifact

First flights: connecting Greece with 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
1961 12.50-drachma stamp featuring Delos artifact

1961 12.50-drachma stamp featuring Delos

Stamp Proof
1961 50-λ stamp featuring Hydra artifact

1961 50-λ stamp featuring Hydra

Stamp Proof
1961 10-λ stamp featuring Kastoria artifact

1961 10-λ stamp featuring Kastoria

Stamp Proof
1958 70-λ stamp featuring the Athens Acropolis artifact

1958 70-λ stamp featuring the Athens Acropoli...

Stamp Proof
1961 20-λ stamp featuring Meteora artifact

1961 20-λ stamp featuring Meteora

Stamp Proof
1959 Commemorative Series of stamps to Ancient Greek drama artifact

1959 Commemorative Series of stamps to Ancien...

Stamp Proof