Iceland review - 2013, Page 56

54 ICELAND REVIEW
distribute them over the country; secondly,
distribute them over the year; and thirdly,
improve facilities at destinations and create
new destinations.”
Kristín Jóhannsdóttir, marketing director
of the Westman Islands (vestmannaeyjar),
which have seen a major increase in
tourists after a new ferry connection was
established in 2010, raises the bar. “Iceland
could welcome ten times more tourists if
the industry was well organized,” she says,
highlighting the same conditions as Erna.
“Four to five hundred thousand is more
than enough,” opines Þór, “Maybe 600,000
if we can spread them over the year. But
the goal is to just carry on: more, more,
more! The time comes when we have to
draw a line.”
Director of the Icelandic Tourist Board
Ólöf Ýrr Atladóttir is reluctant to discuss
numbers. “It’s impossible to estimate when
the country is full. If not everyone comes
during peak season, we can accommodate
a lot of people.” The goal should not be
Iceland in 2010 have been improved. “The
change in the Gullfoss area is dramatic,”
declares Svandís. “New walking paths, a
viewing platform and information signs
guide the traffic, accommodate the masses
and look good,” she claims, adding that a
sturdier fence by the waterfall’s edge fur-
ther secures the safety of the more than
400,000 travelers who come there annually
as part of the famous Golden Circle Tour.
The Icelandic Tourist Board, National
Land Survey of Iceland and the Icelandic
Tourism Research Centre are currently
mapping travel destinations across Iceland,
a project scheduled for completion in a few
years’ time. “It opens opportunities for the
tourism industry regarding service devel-
opment and in providing input on which
destinations they want to focus and where
the environment is under strain,” says Ólöf.
The tourism industry has developed
towards more holistic planning, she adds.
“For example, I was a ranger in the nine-
ties. At that time the focus was on marking
to increase the number of tourists, she says,
but rather to distribute them more evenly
in time and space, so that they can experi-
ence a wider variety of what Iceland has
to offer.
Environment Minister Svandís prefers
taking measures before the one million
limit is reached. “We need to greatly
improve the infrastructure if Iceland is to
have the capacity to carry more people
than it does at present.”
aLL-rounD aCTion PLan
If the government’s 2013-2015 investment
plan is realized, ISK 500 million (USD
4,000) will be allocated to the develop-
ment of tourist destinations annually in the
next three years and in addition, ISK 250
million to improving the infrastructure of
national parks and nature reserves.
While Landmannalaugar awaits action,
conditions at other popular destinations
red-listed by the Environment Agency of
TOURIsM
the new infrastructure by gullfoss waterfall on the popular golden circle
route can better cope with mass tourism.
the campsite at the highland paradise landmannalaugar, which gets
overcrowded during the height of summer.