The so-called “sixties decade” refers to the years 1953 to 1972 during which the Greek economy expanded and restructured in an effort to comply with the European and international economic development. Through a continuous competition at an international level, tourism emerged as an economic, social and cultural phenomenon. The construction of hotels and leisure buildings were of outstanding architectural interest while contributed to the transformation of the city’s face.

During the sixties, the Greek tourism opened its wings along with the wings of the Olympic airlines. The Greek Tourism Organization (EOT) selected strategic areas for investments and the development of the first tourist accommodations (i.e hotels). In the following years, the aforementioned hotels were displayed by important filmmakers. As a result, these tourist accommodations and leisure buildings became the protagonists of the Greek cinema when the latter was at its high peak. The development of the seventh art was another characteristic of the sixties decade. The Greek cinema, contributing to the efforts of the Greek Tourism Organization, advertised (through the movies) an innovative model of vacations which prevailed almost instantly establishing a new era to the image of “vacations”. The hotels, the leisure buildings, the see and the beaches were the leading characters of the Greek cinema which provided the concept of “vacations” with a different meaning.

This paper will explore the perception of the hotels and leisure buildings by the lenses of the Greek cinema. In detail, the paper will illustrate the architectural expansion of the tourist accommodations as this was described by the seventh art in the above mentioned period. The Greek cinema, as one of the main figures of the sixties decade, recorded the modernization, the development of tourism, and the optimism of that period which directly led to the modern westernized consumer society as we know it today.