Foreign visitors to Iceland increased by 1.2 percent in July this year compared to July 2008, according to data from the Icelandic Tourist Board. Around 82,000 foreign travelers departed from Keflavík International Airport last month—up by 950 in July 2008.
A tourist near Mývatn in northeast Iceland. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
When the main market areas are looked at, visitors from central and southern Europe, the Nordic countries and North America increased. In terms of nationalities, Spanish, Italian, Finnish and Canadian tourists increased the most, while the number of British tourists dropped by 21 percent, as stated on the website of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association (SAF).
Since January 1, 2009, a total of 261,000 foreign travelers have departed from Keflavík Airport—a 1.7 percent decrease from the same period last year. Almost 50 percent fewer Icelandic travelers passed through the airport during the first seven months of this year compared to January-July 2008.
Click here to read about this summer’s tourism boom in the West Fjords and here to read more about the development of traveling patters at Keflavík Airport.
