The chairman of the Icelandic Tourist Board, Bjarnheiður Hallsdóttir, has stated she is disappointed with the new rules at the border and that the rules do not go in accordance with the plan set by the government, RÚV reports.
It was decided at a government meeting this morning to tighten border measures and new rules will take effect in a week. Vaccinated tourists will now be forced to show a negative test result boarding a plane to Iceland. The test can be either a PCR test or a rapid test.
Tough times for tourism
“First of all, it is very disappointing that we have reached this point that we need to take epidemiological measures at this point,” says Bjarnheiður.
She goes on to say that the decision is not in accordance with the government’s plan for consistency between the results of domestic vaccinations and disease control measures.
A total of 85.3% of adult Icelanders have been fully vaccinated and an additional 4.9% have received a previous dose of two.
She says the increase in tourists in recent weeks has been welcome for the tourism industry and it would be painful if it slowed down due to new restrictions.
Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.
You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.
Also you can get regular news from Iceland—including the latest notifications on eruptions, as soon as they happen—by signing up to our newsletter.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
