OUR FAMILY HISTORY IN THE TRAVEL TRADE.
We are proud that we are the only travel agency in Athens owned and operating for three generations by the same family. A sign of reliability, honesty and responsibility.
The history of our family in the travel trade started in 1926 when the founder of Astoria travel, Theodoros Papagiannis, came to Athens from the village of Nestani, near Tripolis (central Peloponnesus), was employed in the Greek travel agency, PHAROS Travels Inc. dealing with Greeks emigrating to USA, on September 20, 1926. Today the village of Nestani counts 1,100 citizens and because of Theodoros in the travel trade, in 2018, in Chicago alone, the community of people with roots from Nestani, reached 25,000 people.
Theodoros(means “gift to god”) established Astoria Travel in the centre of Athens on September 1958. Over the years the travel agency has grown into an experienced company, involved in various aspects of tourism in Greece.
Kosta (the son): From the early age of 14 during his summer school holidays, he worked in Astoria Travel. After he finished the high school education in Athens, he emigrated to South Africa (1964 -1974). In Port Elizabeth, where he lived, he graduated from U.P.E. (today’s NMMU) with a B.Com. As a “Sagitarian”, travelling was not only a hobby, but a “need”, and from his travels he gathered plenty of experiences. His biggest problem was, that having little time to see the things he wanted to see, many times he felt that he needed guidance from a local. When he settled back in Greece in 1974, he took over the management of ASTORIA TRAVEL and his hobby became a career.
His aim was to give to people what they needed in their travels – the guidance from a local expert. His efforts were successful, and his presence in Athens made people feel safe and comfortable. Today, after 50 years in the business, he is fortunate to work with his two daughters and provide high quality personal services, based on reliability, friendliness and affordable prices.
His daughters, the young blood in the business, Zefi and Marina, both Sagitarians, have made all the difference in client relations. Today’s youth is more friendly and open to new ideas. Both of them, each in her department of the company, manaded to absorb the experience they needed and today are running the office successfully.
We hope that despite the big problems that the 21 c. has brought worldwide, we shall keep on offering the service that we feel a tourist needs when visiting Greece.
Our services will cover most of your needs; However we are versatile and will meet your requirements and welcome your suggestions. Personal service has been our motto all these years and we are determined to keep it as our main goal in our business and customer relations.
We invite you to visit sunny Greece, land of hospitality, let us be your host, and give us the opportunity to meet you in person.