Since the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano 2010, the number of tourists visiting Iceland has risen rapidly. While before 2010 the numbers of Icelandic inhabitants (330,000) and tourist arrivals almost matched, a number of approximately 2.7 million tourists is expected for 2019, which would equal eight times the national population. Advertising is intensifying for nature destinations, and touristic infrastructure such as guided tours, hotels and souvenir shops is being set up to cater for the massive influx of tourists lured there by the image of pristine wilderness und Iceland's rough and diverse nature. But because of the popular status of the country, the image of 'overtourism' has become established and the expected image of Iceland as being deserted and wild is in doubt. Hence, the question arises whether the numbers of tourists have become too large to maintain the wilderness image and whether Iceland is risking losing not only its wild face but also its economically important numbers of visitors.
„[T]he beauty of our country, the interplay of fire and ice, the gorgeous colours of nature, the majestic expanses of the uninhabited wilderness are drawing constantly more visitors; tourism has become one of our most significant sources of income. In the minds of millions of people all over the world, Iceland is a destination shrouded in mystery and appeal, the country where everyone can walk freely, both on street and mountain path, a democratic society built on security and equal rights, the atmosphere free of the pollution that plagues foreign cities“
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland
New Year Address, 1 Januar 2016
Then President Olafur Grímsson (2016) adressed Iclands wildernss and torusim in his New Year's speech in 2016 (see quote). He was in office during the financial crisis of 2008 and during the volcanic eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull in April 2010, which initially seemed a disaster when it blocked air traffic over Europe for several days, but as a result all eyes turned to Iceland (Benediktsson et al. 2011). Since then, the number of visitors has risen rapidly: In 2015, 1.3 million tourists visited the country, which has an area of 103,000 km2 and only 330,000 inhabitants (Borchert 2016). Grimson (2016) saw the advantage: Iceland's deserted and mystical wilderness attracts tourists. But in the meantime tourism on Iceland seems to threaten itself. Iceland's untouched wild nature can only be consumed in moderation (Fig.1), otherwise consumers will stay away (Sæþórsdóttir 2013). Krippendorf (1975) titled a similar phenomenon under the term "landscape eater" for the Alpine region or by Goodwin (2017) as "overtourism", through which torusitic development the nature area as such loses its attractiveness.
For 2016, 1.5 million tourists were expected, three times as many as in the year before the 2010 eruption. 1.5 million tourists were expected in 2016, and due to the factors that there is only one international airport, the country is marketed as a stopover, and the concentration of the main tourist destinations in the natural areas near Reykjavik, it is clear that the so-called Golden Circle and the south coast of Iceland are the wilderness regions marketed for tourism.
Keywords in current newspaper articles such as "gold-digger mood", "hosts of visitors" and "tourism bubble" (Borchert 2013, Bigalke 2015, Sturmberg 2015) do not fit Iceland's slogans "Iceland naturally", "Nature the way nature made it" or "Pure, natural, unspoiled" (Sæþórsdóttir et al. 2011) and "Europe's last wilderness" (Oslund 2005). How can the uniqueness of untouched wilderness exist when destinations are overcrowded? How can Iceland's fragile nature withstand the masses of tourists? How can tourist infrastructures be in harmony with wilderness definitions? How can it still be a unique wilderness visit when there are fully planned day trips? In my Bachelor thesis (Moesch 2019) I investiagted Iceland's tourism boom in relation with the wilderness image. I analysed the current (2016) perception of tourism and wilderness in Iceland by means of online evaluations of tourist attractions (link to Natur und Landschaft).
While in 1960 only 1,000 tourists visited the country, in 2000 there were about 300,000. With the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, Iceland drew attention as a potential tourist destination and was increasingly marketed as a land of ice and fire (Grimson 2016). A tourism boom set in, with which Iceland recovered from the financial crisis of 2008 (Bigalke 2015). Since 2015, the tourism sector's share of 27.9% of GDP has also exceeded fishing and aluminium production (Ferdamalastofa 2015), which only helped Iceland to achieve a modernization push (Johannesson et. al 2010). Due to the surprising rise of the Icelandic national football team during the 2016 UEFA European Championship, Iceland came back into focus and became a destination to see the descendants of the Vikings. As a result, the infrastructure for tourism is now being expanded, as demand is expected to be boundless (Borchert 2013). With the rapid growth from 500,000 visitors in 2010 to 2.2 million visitors only 8 years later, tourism is booming in Iceland and the curve in Fig. 2 resembles Butler's (1980) tourism development model. Butler's (1980) model shows that tourism develops in phases - from involvement to stagnation: After a period of increase and a boom, stagnation follows at a certain point. Changes must be made here, otherwise the number of tourists will fall. If the existing infrastructure no longer matches the expectations of tourists, the number of visitors will decline (Sæþórsdóttir 2013). Johannesson et. al (2010) call for political decisions to be taken in the future to establish tourism as a stable pillar of the Icelandic economy in the long term. Iceland's biggest pull factor is nature, which was stated in a survey by almost 80% of all respondents (Ferdamalastofa 2015). Iceland's destinations and products are increasingly gaining the image of unspoiled wilderness (Ólafsdottir, Runnström 2011). Wildneress counts as the last areas unttouched by humans (click to reasd more about wilderness). In medieval reports Iceland was described as a cold, treeless frontier beyond civilisation (Sæþórsdóttir et al. 2011), but was increasingly considered exotic due to its unknown nature and sparse population (Oslund 2002). Thus, Iceland's image as pure wilderness has continuously established itself (Sæþórsdóttir et al. 2011) and is thus marketed (Johannesson et al. 2010).
Impressions of icelandic tourist destinations:
The issue has been discussed recently. Click to see the video:
References and further reading:
Benediktsson, K. et al. (2011). Inspired by eruptions? Eyjafjallajökull and Icelandic tourism. Mobilities, 6(1): 77-8
Bigalke, S. (2015). Island. Ansturm im Zungenbrecherland. Süddeutsche Zeitung 24.02.15. http://www.sueddeutsche.de/reise/island-ansturm-im-zungenbrecherland-1.2356428 (aufgerufen am 26.9.16).
Borchert, T. (2013). Tourismus-Boom in Island. Inseltraum für Millionen. Spiegel Online Reise 07.5.13. http://www.spiegel.de/reise/aktuell/tourismus-boom-in-island-a-898500.html (aufgerufen am 26.9.16)
Butler, R. (1980). The concept of the tourist area life-cycle of evolution. Implications for management of resources. Canadian Geographer 24 (1): 5-12.
Ferdamalastofa.is: http://www.ferdamalastofa.is/en/recearch-and-statistics/numbers-of-foreign-visitors (aufgerufen am 26.9.16).
Ferdamalastofa (2015). Tourism in Iceland Figures April 2015. Report by Oddny Thora Oladottir: http://www.ferdamalastofa.is/static/files/ferdamalastofa/Frettamyndir/2015/mai/tourism-in-iceland-in-figures_15.pdf (aufgerufen am 26.9.16).
Gíslason, S. (2008). Weathering in Iceland. Jökul Journals. Elsevier (Amsterdam). S.387ff.
Gísladóttir, G. (2005). The impact of tourist trampling on Icelandic andosols. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie (143): 55–73.
Goodwin, H. (2017). The challenge of overtourism. Responsible Tourism Partnership Working Paper 4.
Grimson, O. (2016). New Year Address by the President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson 1 January 2016. http://english.forseti.is/media/PDF/2016_01_01_Aramotaavarp_enska.pdf (aufgerufen am 26.9.16).
Icelandic Ministry of environment and natural resources (1991). The Nature Conservation Act No. 44/1999. Unter: http://eng.umhverfisraduneyti.is/legislation/nr/389 (aufgerufen am 26.9.16).
Johannesson, G. et al. (2010). Icelandic tourism. Past directions, future challenges. Tourism Geographies, 12(2): 278–301.
Krippendorf, J. (1975). Die Landschaftsfresser: Tourismus und Erholungslandschaft-Verderben oder Segen?. Hallwag.
● Leopold, A. (1949). A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. (Oxford University Press) New York.
Lund, K. (2013). Experiencing nature in nature-based tourism. Tourist studies, 13(2): 156-171.
Ólafsdottir, R., M. Runnström (2011). How wild is Iceland? Wilderness quality with respect to nature-based tourism. Tourism Geographies, 13(2): 280-298.
Oslund, K. (2005). The North Begins Inside. Imagining Iceland as Wilderness and Homeland. GHI Bulletin, 36: 91-99.
Sæþórsdóttir, A.D. (2010). Tourism struggling as the Icelandic wilderness is developed. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 10(3): 334-357.
Sæþórsdóttir, A.D. (2013). Managing popularity: Changes in tourist attitudes in a wilderness destination. Tourism Management Perspectives (7): 47-58.
Sæþórsdóttir, A.D. et al. (2011). Making wilderness: Tourism and the history of the wilderness idea in Iceland. Polar Geography 34(4): 249-273.
Sæþórsdóttir, A.D., J. Saarinen (2016). Challenges due to changing ideas of natural resources: tourism and power plant development in the Icelandic wilderness. Polar Record 52(1): 82-91.
Statice.is. www.statice.is/statistics/population/inhabitants/overview/ (letzter Abruf 22.09.16).
Sturmberg, J. (2015). Fragile Schönheit. Island und der Massentourismus. Die Schattenseiten des Tourismus-Booms. Deutschlandfunk.de 11/12.12.15. http:// www.deutschlandfunk.de/fragile-schoenheit-island-und-der-massentourismus.922.de.html?dram:article_id=337112 (aufgerufen am 26.9.16).
Urry, J. (1990). The Tourist Gaze. Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies. Collection Theory, culture and society. (Sage) London, UK.