In the 1960’s, the growth in International Travel and Tourism reached Thassos, mainly due to its well deserved reputation of being one of the greenest and most beautiful Greek islands, but also due to its close proximity to the Greek mainland.
Although, in the early years, the number of visitors was small, some islanders saw the future potential of tourism on Thassos, realising that it would inevitably replace the centuries-old traditional occupations of agriculture, forestry and fishing. One such forward thinking Thassian was Panagiotis Hatziemmanouil, who, in 1959, introduced the first passenger boat service to the island. The boat, named Alexis, brought visitors from the mainland (city of Kavala) to the port of Limenas (Thassos Town).

Panagiotis also owned and operated an olive processing factory and a sawmill, both located on the land now occupied by the Hotel Pegasus. In 1984, Panagiotis sadly passed away, leaving the family business to his sons, Yannis and Alexis. In 1987, the two brothers, being aware that the island was suffering from a lack of quality accommodation, took the decision to demolish both the sawmill and olive factory and replace them with a hotel, named the Pegasus, which opened its doors a year later, in 1988.
The following decades have seen a year on year growth in the number of visitors to the island, with the Hotel Pegasus under Yannis’ stewardship after 2000 continuing to evolve so as to offer its guests the highest quality of accommodation and service.

Yannis Hatziemmanouil