“Iceland is so hot right now.” It’s the tourism joke that never gets old, partly because Iceland’s appeal is forever cemented in the minds of travelers. Virtually any image or video shared to social media sends people into a trip planning frenzy.

However, when you’re a relatively small island nation with a population of under 400,000, that popularity brings its own set of challenges. Which is exactly why Iceland is looking to attract a different kind of tourist.

Iceland now seeks to cool its mass tourism trends by encouraging fewer visitors to take longer trips, and to make very conscious environmental decisions during those trips.

Iceland Seeks a Tourism Shift

Iceland’s airlines have become well known for promoting the Iceland “stopover”, allowing passengers to fly between the US and Europe with an added few days in Iceland for no extra airfare. These opportunities, and a number of flights launched by US and European air carriers have lead to a tourism explosion.

Why else do people visit Iceland?

Tourists aren’t coming for the shopping. They’re coming for the unparalleled natural resources and beauty the country offers. If the Blue Lagoon becomes a brown lagoon, or the Ring Road an unremarkable stretch of dirty highway, would people still visit?

In an effort to protect its natural draw, Iceland now wants to encourage higher end, “slow” tourism. Slow tourism is where people stay for longer and leave as little behind as possible. Of course, that typically means spending more.

Tourism only exists in harmony when locals and resources aren’t negatively impacted, and the more money tourism brings in, the easier it is to justify negative impacts. Sometimes that’s done by sheer visitor numbers. But, many countries are trying to prioritize tourists who stay longer and spend more. Eat local, stay local, you get the idea.

Iceland is now encouraging EV rentals for trekking, and hoping people will get out and explore wider into the wilderness. The country is encouraging tourists to go beyond the “top 3 things” and to instead explore further afield so that there’s less strain on high traffic areas.

Iceland’s head of tourism efforts recently told Euronews that it plans to push these efforts along with greater impact and visibility. The country has even rolled out live visitor number stats for each major tourism site, so that people can try to find off peak times or days, and therefore reduce impact and create a better experience.

“We have counters of the most visited sites all around Iceland too, so when you visit you can see what days during the week the most visitors are there,”

“We have an ongoing campaign called the ‘Icelandic Pledge’ where we are encouraging visitors to travel responsibly around Iceland. We created eight guidelines that people can read, just to remind them that nature in Iceland is very fragile.”

Dögg Guðmundsdóttir

A New Tourism Trend Gaining Ground

Iceland is certainly not alone as a country or area looking to get more out of tourism, and with fewer people involved.

Venice, in Italy, was among the first to “tax” day trip visitors in an attempt to create overnight and longer stay guests. Many island nations, including The Bahamas have also considered the costs and benefits of subsidizing travel businesses like cruises.

New Zealand has also added substantial visitor fees which purport to immediately invest in protecting the natural resources of the country.=

If you’re thinking of visiting Iceland, expect to be reminded that tourism comes at a cost, and that its better to stay a while and make the most of it.