No Fees For Tourists In The Cards

There are as yet no legislative changes planned to levy fees on tourists for upkeep of popular tourist spots.

RÚV reports that Minister of Industry and Commerce Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir told parliament today that there are no legislative plans in the works to levy special fees onto tourists. Such fees, which have been proposed in different forms over the past few years, would be intended to fund the care and upkeep of some of Iceland’s sites of natural wonder.

Helgi Hjörvar, an MP for the Social Democrats, responded that he was disappointed to hear this was the case. In particular, he objects to the state treasury – derived from taxes – having to pay for the maintenance of these sites when facing steadily increasing foot traffic.

Ragnheiður has for a long time been a proponent of the so-called “Nature Pass”, a flat-fee pass to have been bought by tourists, granting them access to places such as Gullfoss and Geysir. The idea received considerable opposition and ultimately failed to pass.

Tourists to Iceland topped 1.5 million people in 2015, and those numbers are not expected to decline any time soon.