Iceland to implement measures to curb over tourism

Monday, June 11, 2018

Iceland at latitude of 66 degrees North, is not exactly a backyard to the Maltese Islands. In spite of other incongruencies between the two, there are similarities as well. For instance, there is a resemblance between the total number of tourists visiting the two islands each year.

 
There is also the islands’ popularity with the film industry, the GDP contribution credited to tourism, along with total population, which does not crawl above the half a million mark in both cases. The current boost experienced by the Icelandic tourism sector has been propelled by the prominent featuring of the island’s beautiful landscape in the Game of Thrones TV series. However, which was initially thought of as a miracle is now being perceived by many as potential risk damaging the beauty and landscape of the island.

 
The surge of the tourism industry in Iceland is a very recent phenomenon, with tourists hailing from the US alone (exceeding 400,000) outnumbering the locals. So much so that the Icelandic government is thinking of bringing in measures to address the unpleasant impacts that the tourism industry is exerting on the country, for example, putting brakes on the Airbnb network.

 
While some of the tourism-calming measures being touted by the Icelandic authorities appear to target a reduction in tourism numbers, like the proposed restriction on short-term accommodation, others are simply aiming to drive away tourist numbers from the currently-congested Reykjavik environs to more remote areas on the island.

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