Tourists Believe There Are Too Many Tourists

A significant portion of tourists polled believe there are too many tourists at some of Iceland’s natural attractions.

Kjarninn reports that the Icelandic Tourist Board recently conducted an assessment of the thoughts and feelings of tourists about some of their favorite destinations in Iceland, including Geysir, Þingvellir and Jökulsárlón.

According to their findings, while the vast majority of tourists were very pleased with their visits to these natural wonders, there was still room for improvement. In particular, guests were least satisfied with the infrastructure and services at Geysir and Jökulsárlón, and also believed the environs of Geysir to be on the artificial side.

Most believed these places were generally clean, although least so at Jökulsárlón. A few said they had experienced damage to nature caused by tourists, and most of the environmental disruption tourists caused came in the form of the erosion of paths, especially at Þórsmörk and Geysir.

Most curiously, while most tourists said they found the general number of other tourists at these spots to be suitable, about a third believed there were too many. 40% of tourists believed there were far too many tourists and tour buses at Jökulsárlón and Geysir, while 20% said the same of Þingvellir, and 18% felt there were too many tourists at Þórsmörk.