Words by

Alina Maurer

Photo by

Art Bicnick

After a tough last year marked by the pandemic, it seems to be a promising year for the Tourism industry.

Increased optimism among tourism companies

According to RÚV, the chairman of the Icelandic Tourism Association Bjarnheiður Hallsdóttir says that there is increased optimism among tourism companies with the coming summer and tourist peak season. There is hope for an increased number of foreign tourists and it is expected that Icelanders will use a new travel check, called ‘Ferðagjöf’, for domestic travel.

Travel check for all with legal domicile in Iceland

All individuals 18 years and older, with legal domicile in Iceland, will receive the new ISK 5,000 travel gift according to a bill approved by Parliament yesterday. A travel check has already been given out last year and has been used widely, with the old one expiring at the end of the month.

Bjarnheiður Hallsdóttir hopes that this will score similar results as last year, when tens of thousands of Icelanders were traveling in their own country. “We have full faith that this will encourage people to travel around the country and buy services and even lead people to buy more services than they intended, which is extremely important for tourism companies all over the country. Most of these companies have been suffering for a very long time and many have been without income for a whole year,” Bjarnheiður states.

Enormous increase in foreign tourists this year

It is estimated that more than 700,000 foreign tourists will come to Iceland this year. Bjarnheiður says that there is now increased optimism among tourism companies, although hopes can still be crushed.

The chairman of the Icelandic Tourism Association states that a lot of Americans seem to be traveling to Iceland in the last few weeks. She goes on that British tourists are expected to follow suit quite soon and the European market will probably expand as well.

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