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heritage

“My parents would sacrifice anything to create opportunities for us.
My mother had one good pair of Sunday shoes which she would only wear HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

before walking into church.’’ George Daktylides was one of the first people to
realise this island’s tourism potential,
serving the public with a fleet of 25 buses.
THERE IS SOMETHING about a family business and its unique
synthesis of heritage, loyalty and emotion which captures the essence
of luxury and accounts for the strength of some of the world’s greatest
portfolios. This quality is at the heart of the Myconian Collection’s
success. “My brothers and I are as proud of our roots as we are of
our growth”, says Vangelis about his parents George and Eleftheria
Daktylides, founders of the Collection that today counts eleven of
the leading luxury hotels on Mykonos, three of which are members
of Relais & Ch�teaux.
Mykonos during George Daktylides’s youth was very different from
that of today. The island ran a barter economy well into the Fifties.
“My mother, along with everyone else who lived off the land, will tell
you that they traded their cheese, sausages, cured fish and produce
with the townsfolk for imports such as sugar, flour, rice, coffee and
spaghetti, not to mention the all-important cigarettes, sold individually
from a big box”, Panos explains. Besides visitors to a few private
villas, the island was a well-guarded secret before the yachts and
cruise ships of the Sixties began to drop anchor on their way to view
the magnificent ancient ruins of Delos. Onassis and Jackie O were
followed by Princess Soraya, Grace Kelly, Brando and Liz Taylor, to

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