According to the latest figures from the Icelandic Tourist Board, while there were fewer tourists this August than there were last August, more Icelanders have traveled abroad this year than last year.
All told, a statement from the Tourist Board says, 89,600 tourists came to Iceland last August, or about 2,500 fewer than in August 2009, marking a decrease of about 2.7%.
On the other hand, Icelanders have done much more traveling abroad this year than last year. In August alone, 29,900 Icelanders traveled overseas. Compared to the 24,400 who went overseas last year, this makes an increase of 23%.
The statement points out the tourism in Iceland has not decreased across the board. Travelers from North America, for example, have increased by 13.2%, and 16% more Norwegians also visited Iceland this year than last year. However, there has been a decrease in tourists from central and southern Europe, and 11.4% fewer Brits visited Iceland this year.
So far this year, 344,300 tourists have visited Iceland this year. This is down by 2.5% from last year’s average, but we’re holding out hope that more tourists will arrive in the winter.