Favignana Builds a Permanent Tourism Legacy Around The Odyssey
At a Glance
- Permanent Odyssey exhibition planned for Favignana from October of this year
- The municipality approached Universal within weeks of the new administration taking office
- Worldwide searches for “Favignana Odyssey” have risen around 375% from the initial filming spike to the surge following the film’s release
- Favignana is looking to use the film to extend tourism beyond its peak summer season
The Sicilian island of Favignana is moving to turn its starring role in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey into a permanent tourism attraction, with an exhibition celebrating the production set to open as early as October.
The island and its 15th-century Castello di Santa Caterina stood in for exterior scenes of Ithaca, Odysseus’ homeland, and its palace in the film. The exhibition, supported by Universal Pictures and Sicily’s culture department, forms part of a wider effort by the Municipality of Favignana to build a deeper tourism offer around The Odyssey.
Shortly after filming moved on from the island in spring 2025, Favignana’s new administration under Mayor Giuseppe Pagoto moved quickly to approach Universal with a proposal to create a permanent exhibition. Councillor Ignazio Lucido, who has a background in tourism promotion and previously chaired Favignana’s tourism commission, told BE Sicily Magazine that the new administration made contact within three weeks of taking office.
The exhibition, first revealed by Reuters, will occupy the former Florio tuna-processing plant, which served as the production’s headquarters on the island. It is expected to feature costumes, production equipment and material showing how Favignana was transformed into Ithaca.
“The idea is to allow visitors to experience the different stages of the production and see some of the costumes and equipment used in the movie,” Mayor Giuseppe Pagoto told Reuters.
Even before the island has undertaken any major proactive tourism promotion around the film, the success of The Odyssey has given Favignana unprecedented international exposure, with locations across the island, including Castello di Santa Caterina as Ithaca’s palace, now being seen by cinema audiences around the world.
The Odyssey has crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office and has become the highest-grossing film of 2026 in Italy, taking more than €41 million from almost five million admissions by early August. Its global total is set to rise further, with the film still to open in China on 14 August and Japan on 11 September. Its strong performance in Italy is also particularly relevant for Favignana, giving the island additional domestic exposure alongside the film’s much wider international reach.
Worldwide searches for “Favignana Odyssey” have risen by around 375% from the initial spike in interest during filming on the island in spring 2025 to the much larger surge following the film’s worldwide release in July 2026, according to Google Trends. Google Trends measures relative search interest rather than absolute search volumes.
The island is also looking beyond the immediate release period. Local tourism partners are working to extend the tourist season and spread demand beyond the peak summer months, when the population of around 3,000 can rise to between 40,000 and 50,000.
Speaking to Reuters, Giacomo Incarbona, president of Favignana’s Hotel Operators’ Association, warned that “a shock wave could hurt us” if visitor numbers become concentrated in the summer.
The timing of the exhibition means it is expected to begin welcoming visitors after the height of the summer season, aligning with the island’s wider strategy of extending tourism beyond its traditional peak.
