ATHENS – The waning COVID-19 pandemic is already in the rear view mirror for most travelers and the pent-up demand for travel could see more than a million American tourists coming to Greece in 2023.

That would double the 500,000 in 2022 in which arrivals and revenues came close to matching a record set in 2019 before the Coronavirus struck and essentially shut down international air traffic.

It could also bring in more than 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) from Americans alone from direct flights, with so much demand that more US airlines now have direct flights and Delta will start its straight runs in March.

The Greek Ministry of Tourism said that 56 flights per week from the USA and Canada have also been announced, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported about what would see another banner year in tourism.

Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said that with Greece successfully luring visitors during the autumn and into the winter that American air carriers saw the profit in adding more direct flights.

that with the progress of winter and spring, more flights would be added.

He also said that big-spending Americans visiting Greece are now staying longer in Athens, which has become a kind of buzz city in Europe, instead of using it to hop to the islands in the summer.

Besides Americans, Greece benefited from big jumps in arrivals from Great Britain, of 69.2 percent as well as 10.6 percent from Germany and 6 percent from France, a competitor for tourists.

The US increase was 12.3 percent and surveys showed that Greece, one of the world’s biggest attractions in 2022, was rated high in overall satisfaction. The regional airport operator Fraport said it handled 31 million passengers, some three times the country’s population.