CAPE SOUNION, Greece (AP) — When Stelios Zompanakis give up his job at Greece’s central financial institution to strive his luck at boat racing, family and friends pleaded with him to rethink.

9 years later, he spends summers on the “Ikigai,” a 53-foot yacht he named after the Japanese idea of discovering happiness via a lifetime of that means.

Weeklong vacation journeys on his yacht round a few of the lesser-known Greek islands — Milos, Sifnos, Serifos, Kythnos and lots of others — had been booked up via October.

“The demand is insane,” mentioned Zompanakis, who lately paced barefoot across the teak-paneled deck to regulate the sail and verify instrument panels because the boat swung previous the traditional Temple of Poseidon, on a clifftop south of Athens.

Tourism across the Mediterranean has been booming. Helped by a strong U.S. dollar and Europeans’ pent-up demand to discover a seashore after years of COVID-19 journey restrictions, it’s been a stronger comeback from the pandemic hunch than many anticipated, which led to long lines, canceled flights and lost luggage this summer time at many European airports — although not in Greece.

“Individuals after COVID, after two years of frustration, in all probability put some cash apart and determined they wanted a trip,” Zompanakis mentioned. “And I believe the earnings from their budgets that they're prepared to spend rose in order that additionally introduced extra high quality … and this helped Greece loads.”

Greece is on target to beat its annual file income haul from tourism. Portugal is also eyeing a full restoration, whereas late-summer information prompt Spain, Italy and Cyprus will finish the yr simply shy of pre-pandemic customer ranges.

A blessing for Europe’s southern economies, the rebound can also be easing the continent’s tilt toward recession introduced on by rocketing energy prices, the war in Ukraine and enduring disruptions brought on by the pandemic.

“For international locations like Greece and others like Italy and Spain, they've truly produced loads of resilience in the course of the summer time … regardless of the tsunami that's coming from the cost-of-living disaster and the vitality disaster,” mentioned Lorenzo Codogno, chief economist at LC Macro Advisors and a visiting professor on the London Faculty of Economics.

Europe’s Mediterranean coast additionally provides locations which are secure and have cultural curiosity, Codogno mentioned, however the excellent news might not final.

Economic growth in 19 countries using the euro currency is about to sink to 0.5% in 2023 from a rise of three.1% this yr, based on a brand new forecast from the Worldwide Financial Fund.

Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain have the best debt ranges within the eurozone relative to the scale of their economies and likewise face rising borrowing prices.

Stephen Rooney, a senior economist centered on tourism at Oxford Economics, says tourism-dependent international locations will finally see their industries hit tougher subsequent yr by the cost-of-living crisis pushed by hovering inflation and high energy bills.

“There may be an expectation that these challenges will start to chunk as we transfer into the ultimate quarter of this yr and into 2023,” he mentioned. “We don't count on the journey restoration to stall in 2023, however we do count on it would gradual considerably in 2023 according to the final financial slowdown, earlier than selecting up once more in 2024.”

In Athens’ historic Plaka district, vacationers had been nonetheless packing the slim streets throughout a gentle late October, crowding round ice cream sellers and stopping to browse at shops promoting leather-based baggage, jewellery, hats and souvenirs.

At Loom Carpets, co-owner Vahan Apikian, folded and stacked carpets and laid out shoulder baggage for patrons, blissful that demand has remained excessive properly into the autumn.

“Enterprise has gone very properly: We had many extra guests than in 2019, which was a file yr. This yr was even higher,” he mentioned.

As the times get shorter and the outlook darkens over European Union economies, Greece and different southern member states have renewed nationwide efforts to arrange year-round vacation locations, hoping that mountaineering trails, mountaineering and visits to historic church buildings can dampen the winter drop in arrivals.

However year-round tourism additionally exposes the shortcomings in governments’ potential to plan and coordinate, mentioned Panagiotis Karkatsoulis, a senior coverage analyst on the Athens-based Institute for Regulatory Analysis who has suggested governments in southern Europe and the Center East on coverage reforms.

“There isn’t a lot level in promoting a path to a historic monastery that closes at 3 p.m. or attempting to convey seniors to a vacation spot with dangerous roads and no hospital entry … tourism exposes each weak spot an administration has,” he mentioned.

The income windfall this winter, he argued, should fund continued government aid for struggling businesses and households moderately than go to longer-term enhancements.

“Something like tourism that generates wealth is certainly optimistic,” he mentioned. “However how that cash is spent — that’s a distinct dialog.”

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AP reporters Theodora Tongas and Lefteris Pitarakis in Athens, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal; Raquel Redondo in Madrid; Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus; and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed.

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