Iceland review - 2016, Page 49

ICELAND REVIEW 47
the project Iceland Academy in February.
With the use of online mini-classes, the
program’s aim is to increase awareness
of, and interest in, the country as a
destination, emphasizing pleasure, but
also focusing on responsible conduct by
tourists and their safety.
Jónas stresses that ICE-SAR has been
making a concerted effort to raise aware-
ness about the dangers of traveling in
Iceland. Established 120 years ago, it
was set up because of the large number
of accidents at sea. In 2006, they began
their highland watch program, focusing
on tourists. In 2010, they launched their
SafeTravel project for visitors. Five to
ten people submit their travel plans to
safetravel.is per day, allowing search and
rescue workers to know where to start
if trouble occurs during their trip. ICE-
SAR also offers to monitor people’s trav-
els. “Four to five years ago we received
about 30 travel plans a year. Now we
get about 2,000. In several instances we
can say that it has helped save people’s
lives,” Jónas states. Visitors can also sub-
mit their questions—around 1,000 are
received per year. Fifty television screens
have been placed around the country
at hotels, car rental offices and gas sta-
tions, with information on weather, safe-
ty alerts, information on avalanche risks,
specific to the location of the screen.
The Civil Protection Agency sends
out alerts to all mobile phones in an
affected area when there is a specif-
ic threat, like an eruption. During the
2014-2015 Holuhraun eruption, news
about the high levels of sulfur dioxide
reaching populated areas of the coun-
try led to concerns by some potential
tourists about whether it was safe to visit
Iceland. The police and ICE-SAR were
kept busy trying to ensure the public
did not enter the eruption danger zone.
When pollution levels spiked, or there
was a threat of a glacial flood, individuals
in the affected area received an SMS
alert. Asked how Iceland would deal with
a volcanic eruption this summer, with so
many tourists in the country, Minister
of Industry and Commerce Ragnheiður
Elín Árnadóttir says the authorities are
“well prepared.” Jónas, too, says alerts
for a range of scenarios are ready in the
messaging system and can be sent to all
mobile phones in a danger zone with just
the click of a mouse.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
Better infrastructure is vital, though,
particularly in light of tourist sector
growth, Ólöf argues. “Of course such
rapid growth creates a lot of challenges
... Public goods in Iceland, like the roads,
police force, etc. have first and foremost
been developed for the local population.
Now we have a different reality. With
an average of 30,000 extra people in the
country on any given day of the year, it is
a challenge. These guests behave differ-
ently to the local population. In winter,
for example, they are not sitting at home
watching TV. It means there is more
traffic on the road; single lane bridges,
for example, are not sufficient. They are
still sufficient for the locals, who are used
to them, but not for tourists, who are not.
There is a buildup of traffic on the roads
and by drivers who behave differently,
and this can lead to safety issues we need
to address.”
Jónas agrees that the infrastructure
needed for the huge number of tourists
expected in coming years is simply not
ready. “It would take five years to prepare
everything—if we got the money today.”
Four primary areas need to be worked
on, Jónas says: roads, destinations, law
enforcement and education. Roads need
to be widened and signs in English, with
pictures, set up. More viewing platforms
also need to be built, he says. “If we build
a proper viewing deck at Gullfoss, for
example, people will not just walk around
it. As it is now, people come here to see
Gullfoss and they will [ignore closure
signs and] walk around the barriers to
get closer. We also need to protect the
environment … We don’t want decks and
fences everywhere but, for example in
the US, all the big waterfalls have decks
and barriers. After 50 years, we could just
take all that down and the land would be
undamaged and as good as new.”
Funding for infrastructure suffered cuts
following the 2008 economic collapse.
Ragnheiður Elín says, however, that the
increase in revenue derived from VAT on
tourist goods and services in recent years
TRAVEL
PHOTOS BY KRISTJÁN GUÐMUNDSSON.