Page 82 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAG 2021

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

before walking into church.’’

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
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 ten 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

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