- Greece is leveraging Odyssey film for heritage tourism boost
- Weekly travel bookings jump 18pc
- Peloponnese region sees tourist number increases
- Ithaca sees publicity boost despite no film shoots
- Thematic Odyssey Route being developed
Greece is using Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey to spark a wave of heritage and screen tourism driving an 18pc jump in weekly travel bookings. Travel data shows major surges in interest similar to the tourism booms seen after Mamma Mia was filmed in Skopelos. Foreign tourist numbers jumped in the Peloponnese region where key scenes were shot including Methoni Castle, Voidokilia Beach and Nestor’s Cave. Online searches for Methoni rose by 17pc.
Odysseus’ legendary home island of Ithaca is seeing a major publicity and visitor boost despite not actually hosting any film shoots. Local officials expect the increased interest to stretch the traditional tourist season through October. Tour operators and the Greek government are rolling out specialised cultural programmes and press trips to connect cinematic fans with classical Greek history.
Classical literature sections in Athens report booming sales for translations of Homer’s epic poem. Greek authorities are capitalising on interest generated by the film adaptation to promote heritage tourism. The Peloponnese region is developing a thematic Odyssey Route linking historic sites.
