Editing Tourism in Greece (section)

== History ==
Tourism in Greece traces its roots to ancient times. Cultural exchange took place between the Greek colonies of Magna Graeca and the young Roman Republic before Rome's rise to dominance of the Western Mediterranean. When [[Greece]] was annexed by the [[Roman Empire]] centuries later, the cultural exchange that started between the two civilizations triggered as a result a large number of [[Tourism in ancient Rome|ancient Roman tourists]] visiting the famous centers of Greek philosophy and science, such as Athens, [[Corinth]] and [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]], partly because Greece had become a province of the [[Roman Empire]] and [[Greeks]] were granted [[Roman citizenship]].

Tourism in modern-day Greece started to flourish in the 1960s and 1970s, in what became known as [[mass tourism]].<ref name="Greeka">{{cite web |url= http://www.greeka.com/greece/greece-tourism.htm |title=Greece Tourism: Information about tourism in Greece and the Greek Islands |publisher= greeka.com |access-date=17 May 2011}}</ref> During that time, large-scale construction projects for hotels and other such facilities were undertaken, and the country saw an increase in international tourists over the years.<ref name="Greeka" /> International events such as the [[2004 Summer Olympic Games]] and the [[Eurovision Song Contest 2006]], both held in Athens, greatly helped to boost tourism in the country, while large-scale nationally funded cultural infrastructure such as the [[New Acropolis Museum]] also contributed to the flow of tourists in the country. [[Thessaloniki]] was the European Youth Capital in 2014.

{{wide image|SantoriniPartialPano.jpg|800px|align-cap=center|Panoramic view of the [[Santorini caldera]], taken from Oia}}