This is Athens, the official visitors’ guide to the City of Athens, has teamed up with its local partners to produce six digital “postcards” aimed at lovers of Athens abroad and those planning a first-time visit for when the lockdown ends.

The digital campaign is sure to evoke feelings of nostalgia among Hellenophiles and those who have already spent time in the city, fueling hope and anticipation that opportunities to revisit the Greek capital are tantalizingly close on the horizon.

The six short videos, collectively entitled “Love Letters from Athens”, are around 15 seconds each. Bearing the signature “Love, Athens”, they feature iconic landmarks from the historic cityscape, including the statues of Athena and Socrates outside the neoclassical Academy of Athens, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a scene from the central neighborhood of Plaka, and a flyover of the famous Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

The beautifully crafted videos, inspired by the city’s age-old history and culture, emphasize the fact that Athens is getting ready to give a warm welcome to overseas visitors as soon as the lockdown restrictions are lifted – hopefully by early summer.

Available in English, French and German, the target audiences for this particular campaign are prospective visitors from central and western parts of Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This is Athens & Partners

“Love Letters from Athens” is the latest marketing campaign from This is Athens & Partners, a consortium of key stakeholders in the Athens tourism and travel industry. The primary mission of the partnership is to promote the City of Athens abroad, and enhance its image as a world-class place to visit, work, live, and invest.

Partners include the Municipality of Athens, the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), AEGEAN Airlines, Athens International Airport, LAMPSA Hellenic Hotels S.A., LAMDA Development S.A., and the Ionian Hotels Enterprises S.A.

Marketing campaigns for This is Athens are implemented by three main organizations: the Athens Destination and Development Management Agency, Marketing Greece, and the Athens Partnership.

In a statement regarding the latest digital campaign, the Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, commented: “In such a difficult period, Athens declares its presence in world tourism. With this campaign, we send the message to everyone that the Greek capital … is ready to play a leading role in the new map of tourism.”

Yiannis Retsos, President of SETE, remarked that the campaign “conveys a message of readiness and optimism.”

Ioanna Dretta, CEO of Marketing Greece, added that the digital postcards seek to “promote the personality of the city and to send a message of anticipation and optimism for when the city meets its visitors again.”

The CEO of LAMPSA S.A., Tassos Homenidis, emphasized the “authentic hospitality” of Athens, and the unique and “fascinating relationship between cultural heritage and modern social life” in the city. “These characteristics win over its visitors and acquire special importance in times of crisis … The ‘Love Letters from Athens’ campaign highlights them and fuels the optimism and expectations in anticipation of the realization of travel again.”

Eftichios Vassilakis, Chairman of Aegean Airlines, commented: “We believe in Athens and not for a moment have we stopped systematically investing in the dynamics of the destination, … by participating in every effort that creates new reasons to visit the city.”

The CEO of Athens International Airport, Yiannis Paraschis said: “In these particularly adverse conditions for tourism in Athens, we continue with a sense of increased responsibility, … to promote our destination with a very fresh and creative approach that invests in the return of the visitor to our city.”

Odisseas Athanassiou, CEO of Lamda Development, stated: “We live in a city known for its history and culture that goes back thousands of years, … Our vision at Lamda Development is to reposition Athens on the global investment and tourism map, highlighting its unique characteristics, its past, present and future.”

The Chairman of the Board of Ionian Hotel Enterprises SA, Achilles Constantakopoulos, commented: “Today, in a period of multiple challenges for global and of course Greek tourism, it is even more imperative that public and private actors join forces to achieve our common goal: The emergence and gradual establishment of Athens as a leading European destination for the whole year.”