Iceland is the latest country to announce it will be introducing tourist taxes to help manage impact of tourism and, more importantly, relieve the pressure on the popular “unspoiled nature” sites visitors frequent.
The exact details of the move have not yet been revealed, but the measure was announced by Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Tourism has really grown exponentially in Iceland in the last decade. And that obviously is not just creating effects on the climate, it’s also because most of our guests are visiting the unspoiled nature and obviously it creates a pressure.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland
The Prime Minister indicated the taxes will not be high and will start off as city taxes, similar to what other destinations already implement, with further options to be explored from there. “We have announced that we are putting increased taxes on tourism in Iceland. Not high taxes to begin with, but we are talking about city taxes, etc, for people who stay in Iceland. Because we think it’s very important that we have an economic factor within that.”
Weighing in on how tourism will play in the Iceland’s ambitious goal of reaching neutrality by 2040 and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, Jakobsdóttir said tourism companies are already taking steps to become sustainable. “A lot of our companies working in the tourism sector are finding ways to really turn over to circular economy, turn over to electric cars, so that change is happening, but it is a challenge, it is truly a challenge”, she told the Bloomberg reporter.
The foreseen tax is not aimed at deterring tourists from visiting Iceland, rather raise awareness of the importance of responsible tourism. Over the years, Iceland has had some of the most creative and ingenious tourism campaigns, referencing to the latest socio-cultural events to highlight the country’s awe-inspiring nature and landscapes. Soon after Facebook changed its name to Meta, the tourism office released a campaign parodying Mark Zuckerberg and his metaverse concept with an ad featuring the enhanced, actual reality Icelandverse, a completely immersive, open-world experience “with water that’s wet”.
Tapping into the emerging space tourism market, last year, Iceland released a campaign inviting aspiring astronauts to save money and visit the Nordic country instead, for the same otherworldly experiences at a much better price and lower impact on the climate. “Our message is simple: you don’t need to leave earth to have an experience that is out of this world. There are otherworldly adventures to be found right here in Iceland, where you can enjoy the same lunar landscapes that NASA astronauts used as a training ground before the inaugural spacewalk”, head of Visit Iceland, Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir, said at the time.
