New tourism policy for Iceland

Head of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association is optimistic that the policy will boost country's travel industry

New Icelandic travel industry policy announces milestone extensive cooperation between all parties involved in increasing country's tourism profits: authorities, municipalities and travel industry agents. The Icelandic minister for Travel, Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, hopes this will be a big step for Iceland's future tourism industry.

The new policy called “Road Sign for the Travel Industry” was presented earlier this week by minister Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir and Grímur Sæmundssen, CEO of the Blue Lagoon and head of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association. The Harpa concert hall meeting was attended by big players in the sector, as a new policy was necessary and long expected for this field.

“We don’t have time to wait any longer,” Ragnheiður Elín said.

The travel industry and profits are expected to boost following a 15 years long plan: ISK 350 billion for this year, ISK 620 billion in 2020 and ISK 1,000 billion (equivalent EUR 7.02 billion) in 2030.

The new plan will focus on increasing tourists destinations, protecting the environment and increasing the profit.

The “Road Sign for the Travel Industry” is considered to be a milestone for Iceland's tourism, as CEO Grímur remarked: “As the name suggests, this is a beacon to guide us into the work ahead. The Road Sign covers the next five years.”

In order to coordinate operations and ensure comprehensive cooperation of all the involved structures in the industry, a new Tourist Control Center will be established in the near future.