From Iceland — Tourism Southwest Iceland's Biggest Business

Tourism Southwest Iceland’s Biggest Business

Published November 2, 2013

Visitors to Iceland generate the greatest number of jobs for Iceland’s most unemployed region.
MBL reports that, according to a new survey from Market and Media Research, tourism and communications is the largest industry in Suðurnes. According to the poll, 19.6% of the population in the area work in this field.
Árni Sigfússon, the mayor of Reykjanesbær, told reporters, “This is a pretty fast development from the spring, when it was reported that about 17% of residents were working in this field. Although it shouldn’t be surprising that tourism has been big this summer, and hopefully the jobs will last longer than they did last year.”
Ever since the former NATO base closed in 2006, Suðurnes has struggled to find jobs for all its residents. Currently, as has been the case for years previous, the highest rate of unemployment in Iceland can be found there. Figures from last August put unemployment in Suðurnes at a little over 5%, while the national average is just under 4%.

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