Just over a third of Icelanders plan to go on holiday abroad this year or have already done so. This was among the findings of a recent survey conducted by Prósent on behalf of Fréttablaðið.
Although 28.2% of Icelanders have plans to go abroad later this year, only 7% have actually done so already. A far greater majority—57.9%—said that they were not going to travel abroad and 9% said they didn’t know.
People in the highest income brackets are the most likely to travel abroad, as are capital-area residents. Looking just at residence: 45% of capital residents have gone or are going abroad this year, versus 29% of those who live in the countryside. Otherwise, the distribution among various social groups is fairly even. Age does play a factor: Icelanders aged 24 – 44 are the least likely to travel abroad.
The survey was conducted from July 15 – 23, just around the time that the COVID-19 infection rate began to increase again. According to Þráinn Vigfússon, who works at the travel company Vita, bookings for trips abroad during the upcoming Merchant’s Weekend ground to a halt after outdoor festivals within Iceland were canceled or postponed due to stricter gathering limits.
The current infection level in Iceland means that the country will be red on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s country map next week, regardless of how many infections are diagnosed within the coming days. This may have affected Icelanders’ plans to travel abroad, as well as the answers of survey respondents.
The survey had 2,600 respondents, aged 18 and older, and answers were organized according to gender, age, and place of residence. The response rate was 52%.
