The number of foreign visitors in Iceland continues to grow, according to the latest figures from the Icelandic Tourism Board. Some 200,000 foreign travelers visited Iceland in October, a 9.7% increase over October 2017.
The increase is explained by a dramatic increase in the number of US travelers. The number of visitors from the US increased 40%, while the number of Scandinavian, UK and Asian visitors dropped 7.7-13.2%. This is a continuation of a trend we have been seeing since last fall when the number of visitors from Europe began dropping, leading to slower growth in visitor numbers, causing some to fear the growth of the Icelandic tourism had peaked.
While the number of foreign visitors continues to grow, the growth is significantly slower than in recent years. The annual growth in visitor numbers in September-October has been slowing since 2015. In 2015 the year-over-year increase over 2014 was 43.6%, 50.2% in 2016 but slowed down to 15.6% in 2017. This year the increase was 11.8%.
The number of foreign visitors in Iceland continues to grow, according to the latest figures from the Icelandic Tourism Board. Some 200,000 foreign travelers visited Iceland in October, a 9.7% increase over October 2017.
The increase is explained by a dramatic increase in the number of US travelers. The number of visitors from the US increased 40%, while the number of Scandinavian, UK and Asian visitors dropped 7.7-13.2%. This is a continuation of a trend we have been seeing since last fall when the number of visitors from Europe began dropping, leading to slower growth in visitor numbers, causing some to fear the growth of the Icelandic tourism had peaked.
While the number of foreign visitors continues to grow, the growth is significantly slower than in recent years. The annual growth in visitor numbers in September-October has been slowing since 2015. In 2015 the year-over-year increase over 2014 was 43.6%, 50.2% in 2016 but slowed down to 15.6% in 2017. This year the increase was 11.8%.
