For
intrepid early romantics on their Grand Tours to the18 million
travellers expected to visit this year, Greece has long been one of
Europe’s most alluring destinations. These posters, marking 100 years of
what is now the Greek National Tourism Organisation, highlight its
winning combination of culture, charm and sunshine
In 1922, Greece’s Bureau
of Foreigners and Exhibitions is upgraded to a ‘Service’. In that year,
under the heading Independent Travel without Trouble, Thomas Cook’s
Traveller’s Gazette begins: ‘Let us suppose one is desirous of taking
wife or family for a tour on the continent …’
Photograph: All posters from the Greek National Tourism Organisation
In 1936, the Greek
National Tourism Organisation is abolished by prime minister Ioannis
Metaxas. He orders all houses on the Cycladic islands be whitewashed –
for hygiene but also because he believed it made them more picturesque.
In an early brochure, the Winter Sunshine Cook’s Handbook, a 15-day tour
of Greece cost £41. 2s. 6d.
In 1941, tourism is
transferred to Greece’s ministry of national economy, where a
directorate of spa towns and tourism is created, despite the second
world war raging. At the end of the war, a secretariat general for
tourism is established.
This 1949 poster is from
the time of the Marshall Plan, which provided US aid to Europe after
the second world war. A supreme council for tourism is set up – but
Greek finances are in disarray: ‘Since the release of Greek territory
from enemy occupation, the monetary system is in a state of confusion,’
notes the Thomas Cook Continental Timetable.
By 1955, foreign tourist
numbers to Greece have reached 200,000 – a five-fold increase in five
years. The average stay of the visitors is one week; and in 1956 My
Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell reveals Corfu to a generation
of readers.
In 1967, a Greek
military junta – the ‘Regime of the Colonels’ – came to power. For the
first time, tourism numbers decline – by about 14% – though they rebound
the following year. In the UK, the government imposes a £50 limit on
the allowance for British citizens travelling abroad.
Greece is one of the
first destinations to be chosen by Britannia Airways for its new Boeing
737 jet, with charters from Luton to Athens. In 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy
marries the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis on the Ionian
island of Skorpios.
In 1980 there is
evidence budget travel is flourishing, with the publication of Europe: a
Manual for Hitch-hikers. It says: ‘Greece is one of the most beautiful
countries on earth to get stranded for a few hours.’ Greece joins the EU in 1981, and the latest James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only, features the monasteries of Meteora.
In 1990 visitor numbers
hit nine million for the first time, with some tourists inspired by the
movie Shirley Valentine, released the previous year. Cephalonia features
in Louis de Bernières’ 1994 novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, about the Italian and German occupation of Greece in the second world war.
Greece win the 2004 UEFA
European Championship, beating the hosts Portugal in the opening group
match and again in the final. The following month, Athens hosts the
Olympic Games. Visitor numbers to Greece are now more than 13 million.
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