Reykjavík Grapevine - 31.07.2015, Blaðsíða 14

TVEIR HRAFNAR listhús, Art Gallery
Baldursgata 12 101 Reykjavík (at the corner of Baldursgata and Nönnugata, facing Þrír Frakkar Restaurant)
Phone: +354 552 8822 +354 863 6860 +354 863 6885 art@tveirhrafnar.is www.tveirhrafnar.is
Opening hours: Thu-Fri 12pm - 5pm, Sat 1pm - 4pm and by appointment +354 863 6860
TVEIR HRAFNAR
listhús, Art Gallery
offers a range of artwork by
contemporary Icelandic artists
represented by the gallery, se-
lected works by acclaimed artists
and past Icelandic masters.
Represented artists:
GUÐBJÖRG LIND JÓNSDÓTTIR
HALLGRÍMUR HELGASON
HÚBERT NÓI JÓHANNESSON
JÓN ÓSKAR
ÓLI G. JÓHANNSSON
STEINUNN THÓRARINSDÓTTIR
Also works by:
HADDA FJÓLA REYKDAL
HULDA HÁKON
NÍNA TRYGGVADÓTTIR
KRISTJÁN DAVÍÐSSON
– among others
PLEASED TO MEAT YOU!
14 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 11 — 2015
You see, we’ve been down this road
before. About ten years ago, Iceland
put all of its eggs in the basket of high
finance. We talked about “outvasion
Vikings” (still a bonehead term if
there ever was one), unemployment
was at 2%, the króna was strong, and
our president enjoyed visiting other
countries to brag about how our Proud
Nordic Viking Spirit made us just so
damned good at capitalism. Similarly,
the media in Iceland pretty much par-
roted this attitude, without examina-
tion or criticism. Any outside voices
of doubt—like say, Standard & Poor’s—
were scoffed at and told “maybe u shud
hustle as hard as u h8 lol.”
At Grapevine, any time I reported
a story that was even remotely critical
of Iceland’s financial dealings, people
spared no words in their scorn and
ridicule. I have personally been asked
why I hated Iceland, and told that if I
hated Iceland so much maybe I should
move back to the US. Not that I was
alone—any journalist or media outlet
that questioned the stability and sus-
tainability of our success was subject
to the same treatment. Things are go-
ing so well, we were told, why do you
have to be so negative?
Well, we all know how that went.
Even the Special Investigation Com-
mission report on the causes of the
Icelandic economic collapse cited,
amongst many other factors, a lack
of critical investigative journalism,
which could have put pressure on our
bankers or at least shed light on some
wrongdoing.
Now, it seems, we’ve decided
that the problem isn’t that we put all
our eggs in one basket; the problem
is what basket we chose. This time
around, tourism will
be the new basket for
all of Iceland’s eggs.
Business is booming,
the bubble is swell-
ing, hotels are sprout-
ing faster than weeds,
and there is an unex-
amined, baseless as-
sumption that tourism
is an industry that will
just keep on growing
in Iceland, without
end.
This kind of atti-
tude makes me very
nervous. It gives me
a creeping déjà vu.
There are plenty of
indications that the
same laissez-faire at-
titude that we once
had about finance will
take hold of tourism.
Take, for example, the series of tour-
ists-pooping-outdoors stories. Sure,
we all had a good laugh over that, but
tour guides aren’t laughing. They’ve
been pointing out for months now that
there are simply not enough outdoor
toilets for the growing influx of visi-
tors. Yet the response from Minister
for the Environment Sigrún Magnús-
dóttir was that the
problem is actually a
“lack of respect” on the
part of tourists. Yes,
that’s right, a govern-
ment minister thinks
the problem is you.
This is the es-
sence of the govern-
ment’s attitude about
a rapidly growing in-
dustry that is outsizing
the population several
times over—the same
attitude it had ten
years ago. And that’s
not good.
This is the mes-
sage I want those of
you who are current
or prospective tour-
ists to take to heart:
you are not the prob-
lem. We love you. This
whole magazine is for you. We show
you places you can go, things you can
do, and also what kinds of things Ice-
landers are talking about. Amongst the
things they’re talking about is how the
tourism industry is rapidly, dizzyingly
growing, what effect that is having on
our tiny society, and how this can be
better managed. One thing’s for cer-
tain—the problems we are currently
dealing with have little to do with
tourists, and almost everything to do
with the management of the tourism
industry.
That’s why I feel reporting on how
tourism is being managed is impor-
tant. There is no such thing as unlim-
ited growth, and we can learn from the
mistakes of 10 years ago, if we want to.
There is a big difference between be-
ing critical and being negative. I am
very positive about tourists. I believe,
for the sake of our economy and our
society, that we need to be critical of
the management of tourism.
Some of you may have noticed that Grapevine’s been re-
porting a lot of news about the misadventures of tourism.
I say tourism, rather than tourists, because the distinc-
tion is both very important and often misunderstood.
The latter represents a very large group of people who
are mostly great to and for the country; the former rep-
resents an industry that is following an unfortunately fa-
miliar trend, and will continue to unless we learn some
lessons from the past.
Tourists:
It’s Not You,
It’s Us
Words by Paul Fontaine
One thing’s for cer-
tain—the problems
we are currently
dealing with have
little to do with
tourists, and almost
everything to do
with the manage-
ment of the tourism
industry.
Politics | Bright?Opinion | Tourism