Never more tourists

Considerably more tourist visited Iceland this year than last year according to numbers from Leifur Eiriksson International Airport during the first 11 months of 2006. The increase is 9.4%. A lot more tourist visit Iceland now during the winter months and the increase during the month of November was 36.4%. More tourists during the winter months are especially important for the tourist industry in Iceland. According to Ársæll Haraldsson, head of marketing at the Tourist Board, negative publicity on the Icelandic business world and whale hunting does not hurt the tourist industry. „It seems to bring attention to the country and people decide to travel here when they here these news,“ says Ársæll. Another factor is the increase in flights to the country; both British Airways and SAS started flying to Iceland this year. Lastly, marketing throughout the years seems to be paying off. Travelers are worldlier now and are not bothered by the weather or cold climate.