Pop star Justin Bieber was here recently, years ago also Angelina Jolie, before that was filmed for "James Bond". Now the Chinese couple Zhongda He and Nannan Li inspect the Icelandic glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón.
The two come from Beijing and Shanghai. You sail with an amphibious vehicle over the icy water. With other tourists they drive past meter-high icebergs, which a few days ago from the glacier on the horizon, the Vatnajökull, broken off. Li stares spellbound through the binoculars at the ice monster. He is speechless for now. Then he says softly, "That's great."
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Overtourism: How Icelanders Deal with Tourist LoveIceland's popularity with travelers has gone through the roof in recent years. The dramatic volcanic eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier and its ash clouds in 2010 made the North Atlantic island known far beyond the borders of Scandinavia.
In 2010, nearly 489,000 people had traveled to Iceland, in 2018, 2.34 million. That's almost fivefold in just eight years - and more than six times the population of Iceland. Around 350,000 people live on the island - and thus only a little more than, for example, in Bielefeld. Is the island threatening to overflow?
Gudny Valberg first used the boom for himself. A photo of her farm, which she runs with her husband Ólafur Eggertsson, was printed on the front pages of international newspapers as Eyjafjallajökull spat ashes right behind the yard. "When this happened, it was perhaps the biggest advertisement for Iceland," says Valberg.
The family opened a visitor center at the foot of the glacier. Eventually, however, it became too much: Several of the children who helped had moved away. The parents alone could not satisfy the information greed of tourists - in addition to working on the farm - no longer. The couple closed the center in early 2018.
"Hú" and "Star Wars"
In the capital city of Reykjavik, about 140 kilometers northwest of Eyjafjallajökull, Inga Hlín Pálsdóttir, Director of Tourism, says: "Suddenly, people realized there was an island in the middle of the Atlantic," she says.
Before, most did not even know where to put Iceland on the world map. Now they realize that a trip there does not take so long - from Berlin, the plane needs three and a half hours. Then came the football championships and the "Hú" slogan of the Icelanders, as well as the many series such as "Games of Thrones" and movie sequels about "Star Wars", which were filmed here.
Some Icelanders are annoyed by the rush during the summer months. In a café in Reykjavik one says that tourism saved the country from the recession after the 2008 financial crisis. Now you need the money of the tourists but not more. Especially at the thoughtless action of many travelers on the roads and in nature, one is disturbed. On Facebook has formed a separate group that documents mishaps of tourists.
Especially the south is popular - the black beach Reynisfjara, the waterfalls Skogafoss and Gullfoss, the geyser Strokkur. The Ring Road, which passes by and circles the land, has taken its toll in this area. In many places, the asphalt is being repaired. And the Icelanders experience what they barely knew until now: umferdarhnútur - traffic jam. Recently, a canyon had to be temporarily closed, because he had suddenly become a tourist Mecca after a visit by Justin Bieber.
Iceland off the ring road should be known
The author of an Icelandic book, Thilo Mischke, tries to come to the island at least once a year. He says, "Iceland is getting busier every year, but there's plenty of room." Especially the Golden Ring is overflowing. But as soon as you leave this, people would not stand on their feet anymore.
And that is exactly what Iceland wants to do for its tourism in a sustainable, stable future: promote previously neglected regions and make the off-season more attractive outside the relatively warm summer months of June to August.
While a maximum of around 90,000 travelers came to Iceland in July, only 30,000 have so far in the winter, as Pálsdóttir, the Visit Iceland director, predicts. The relationship between the main and low season has already improved significantly. The biggest growth was recorded in the off-season.
A focus will now be placed on promoting other regions, because the majority of Iceland's guests travel especially to Reykjavik, the south and the Golden Ring - "our Eiffel Tower", as Pálsdóttir says. The key is to be a sustainable destination. "That's why we focus on making sure that everything we do is something the Icelanders are happy with."
Particularly important to the locals is also a protection fund for tourist attractions. From this money can be applied for to create ways, toilets and other infrastructure. The goal is the protection of nature, says Pálsdóttir. The government is also examining the impact of tourism on the economy, infrastructure and social issues, to see in good time if it hooks somewhere. "The first results show that we have not reached the limit," says Pálsdóttir.
Magic word means regulation
Reykjavik with the nearby Keflavik International Airport remains the central gateway to the island. Almost all travelers - up to 96 percent - visit the capital during their vacation. "It's both a good and a bad thing," says Visit Reykjavik local tourist office director Karen María Jónsdóttir. Not only the Laugavegur, the central shopping street, is usually packed, but also other quarters of the city.
Reykjavik's magic word is regulation: large buses were banned at the request of the residents from the city center. Many urgently needed hotels have been built, according to Jónsdóttir spread over the city. Anyone renting Airbnb rooms is allowed to do so for a maximum of 90 days a year. It was taken care that in some streets not too many restaurants and pubs and the residents feel disturbed. Museums, art galleries and bars are not only in the center, but also in other areas such as the Old Port.
Today, the overwhelming majority in the city believe that tourists have improved the quality of life, says Jónsdóttir. "People are happy with the number and variety of offers."
By 2019 Iceland is experiencing something that has never happened before in this decade: falling numbers. Pálsdóttir says that, among other things, the bankruptcy of the low-cost airline Wow Air and the problems of the run-of-the-mill Boeing 737 Max are the reasons. "But we are not worried at the moment," assures Pálsdóttir.
From an overcrowding like in Venice, she says, Iceland is far away. And in terms of crowding, it is anyway on the perspective: The Chinese He and Li enjoy the still low human density in Iceland from their point of view. "This is so different from China, we are so used to urban areas with large populations, where it's wild and empty, that's paradise for us," says Nannan Li.
