Tourism in Iceland
Tourism in Iceland has become a more significant part of the national economy. The tourism industry was estimated to contribute to 5.9% of the country's GDP as of 2009.[1] In 2012, an estimated 672,000 tourists visited Iceland,[2] and tourism contributed 23.5% in export revenue.[3]
History
Tourism to Iceland has grown steadily since the 1990s. In 2000, the annual number of visitors exceeded the total resident population for the first time. Since then, tourism has grown by about 7.3% on average each year.[4] Some 360,000 people visited Iceland in 2004,[5] compared with 485,000 in 2007,[6] 500,000 in 2008 and 672,000 in 2012. The number of nights spent was 0.585 million in 2000 and 3.7 million in 2012.
Jobs in the tourism industry were estimated at 7,385 in 2000 and at 9,241 in 2009 (5.1% of the total workforce).[7]
Tourist Demographics
Evolution of the annual number of foreign tourists in Iceland.
Iceland receive the highest number of tourists during summer (June–August). In 2012, around 47% of visitors arrived in Iceland during its summer months.[8] As of year 2012, Iceland's greatest tourism markets comprises tourists from Central/South Europe, followed by those from the Nordic countries, North America, Others, then UK. In terms of visitors from individual countries, the top 5 for 2012 were the USA, UK, Germany, Norway and France. China showed the largest percentage increase in visitor numbers in the 2010-2012 period, with an increase of over 50% year on year. [9]
Popular Tourist Destinations
In 2012, a survey was carried out by the Icelandic Tourist Board, and the following 10 destinations were most frequently visited out of a list of 54 locations. [10]
See also
References
External links
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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Iceland. |
- regional sites of the Icelandic Tourist Board
Tourism in Europe |
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