More tourists from the US than any other nation visited Iceland in May, or 26.2 percent of the 124,000 foreign tourists who departed from Keflavík International Airport last month, according to the Icelandic Tourist Board. This is an increase by 12,296 US tourists compared to May 2015.
US tourists are popular among Icelanders, particularly Icelandic sales people, as RÚV discovered. “They are great, almost without exception. They are always in a good mood and wanting to chat,” commented Stefanía Bergsdóttir, who works in 66°North on Bankastræti in downtown Reykjavík. Apparently, US tourists are also keen shoppers.
The second-largest group of tourists came from the UK, or 12.8 percent, followed by Germans (7.8 percent), Canadians (6.0 percent), Norwegians (5.2 percent), Swedes (4.9 percent), French (4.5 percent), Danes (3.6 percent), Dutch (2.8 percent) and Poles (2.7 percent).
Overall, 124,000 tourists in May is a 36.5 percent increase compared to May 2015. The number of tourists has increased every month this year, by 23.6 percent in January, 42.9 in February, 38.1 percent in March and 32.5 percent in April, compared to the same months in 2015.
A total of 513,000 tourists have visited Iceland so far this year, which is a 35.2 percent increase compared to January-May last year.
