This summer has by all accounts broken records in terms of the number
of tourists who visited Iceland, as travellers from abroad take
advantage of the weakened crown.
The Icelandic Tourist Office estimates that some 92,000 guests arrived to Iceland through the international airport in August alone – 8,000 more than this same time last year. This marks an increase of 9.2%. At the same time, Icelanders travelling abroad have decreased by about 40%, as the cost of flying out of the country is significantly effected by the flagging economy.
Most of Iceland’s guests have come from Europe – specifically, mostly from Finnland, Spain, Italy and Germany – although Chinese also arrived in great numbers. In total, about 350,000 tourists have visited Iceland so far this year, while the yearly total of Icelanders leaving the country has dropped by 45%.