KARPATHOS – Flush with what could be a record tourism year, or just missing, even during the waning COVID-19 pandemic, Greece is expecting another boom in 2023 and the island of Karpathos was named a hot spot by National Geographic.

It was among the 25 must-see destinations based on people and culture, the land and conservation, and an alternative to the mass tourism that’s close to ruining popular islands such as Mykonos and Santorini too.

While it might bring more people to the island near the coast of Turkey, Karpathos and others like Leros, Patmos, and Kos were cited as casting “an alluring spell conjured with their rocky beauty and feisty history.”

The site noted that a long line of conquerors, including Turks as well as the Romans and Italians, “left their fingerprints on everything from the architecture to the food.”