Tourism has boomed in Iceland in recent years, growing by 20-30% annually for several years. According to data collected by the Icelandic Tourist Board some 460,000 foreign visitors came to Iceland in 2010, compared to 970,000 in 2014.
The number of visitors had already reached 1,000,000 in early October, and the figure is expected to top 1.3 million over the year. According to projections the number of foreign visitors will be between 1.5-1.6 million in 2016.
Still, Iceland continues to be near the bottom of the list of most visited countries!
Despite the dramatic increase in tourism over the last years, Iceland is a far way from being one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. According to data from the World Bank there were 110 countries which had more foreign visitors than Iceland in 2013, the most recent year in the bank’s data set. A number of tiny or small European states, including Malta, Andorra, Montenegro and Luxembourg had more foreign visitors in 2013 than Iceland. Iceland is also the least visited of the Nordic countries, not counting the Faeroe Islands or Greenland. Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland all saw 5-9 times as many foreign visitors as Iceland.
One of Europe's ten least visited, must visit countries
Despite the growing tourism industry Iceland therefore continues to be one of the least visited countries in Europe. This fact allowed the travel blog of the airline booking website Orbitz to name Iceland as one of the 10 least visited countries in Europe which people should definitely visit:
Some dwarf in comparison to their gargantuan neighbors, others are still branded with a scarlet letter thanks to past global conflicts and none can compete with France’s food scene, England’s charms or Italy’s gorgeous coastline, but nevertheless you should check out the ten least visited countries in Europe.
The countries Orbitz names as “must visited of the least visited” category are Belarus, Bosnia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, San Marino, Serbia, and Iceland. All had fewer than a million visitors in 2013. In that year Luxembourg saw 945,000 visitors and Serbia 922,000, compared to the figure 7801,000 in Iceland.
Then there are less quantifiable reasons to visit
Since then, the number of foreign travellers in Iceland has of course grown dramatically. So, if you are making your travel plans based on statistics you might reconsider your plans to visit Iceland if the thought of other travellers bothers you. However, one might also take into consideration other factors, like the number of foreign travellers compared to the local population, or land area in square miles or km. On both accounts Iceland certainly continues to come out toward the bottom of the list!
And most visitors probably make their travel plans using other and less quantifiable metrics than the number of other tourists, so, Orbitz’s rationale for visiting Iceland probably makes more sense for most people than a World Bank data sheet:
First-time travelers to this Nordic island nation often describe a visit as the trip of a lifetime, so it’s too bad that it ranks low in comparison to its mainland neighbors. The weather does Iceland no favor (although it’s seldom unbearable) and daylight hours in winter are few and far between, yet the landscape is thrilling including gurgling hot springs, black sand beaches, gargantuan volcanoes and so much more. Book a trip to mainland Europe via Iceland Air and arrange for a multi-day layover in Reykjavik. You won’t be sorry.
Tourism has boomed in Iceland in recent years, growing by 20-30% annually for several years. According to data collected by the Icelandic Tourist Board some 460,000 foreign visitors came to Iceland in 2010, compared to 970,000 in 2014.
The number of visitors had already reached 1,000,000 in early October, and the figure is expected to top 1.3 million over the year. According to projections the number of foreign visitors will be between 1.5-1.6 million in 2016.
Still, Iceland continues to be near the bottom of the list of most visited countries!
Despite the dramatic increase in tourism over the last years, Iceland is a far way from being one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. According to data from the World Bank there were 110 countries which had more foreign visitors than Iceland in 2013, the most recent year in the bank’s data set. A number of tiny or small European states, including Malta, Andorra, Montenegro and Luxembourg had more foreign visitors in 2013 than Iceland. Iceland is also the least visited of the Nordic countries, not counting the Faeroe Islands or Greenland. Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland all saw 5-9 times as many foreign visitors as Iceland.
One of Europe's ten least visited, must visit countries
Despite the growing tourism industry Iceland therefore continues to be one of the least visited countries in Europe. This fact allowed the travel blog of the airline booking website Orbitz to name Iceland as one of the 10 least visited countries in Europe which people should definitely visit:
Some dwarf in comparison to their gargantuan neighbors, others are still branded with a scarlet letter thanks to past global conflicts and none can compete with France’s food scene, England’s charms or Italy’s gorgeous coastline, but nevertheless you should check out the ten least visited countries in Europe.
The countries Orbitz names as “must visited of the least visited” category are Belarus, Bosnia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, San Marino, Serbia, and Iceland. All had fewer than a million visitors in 2013. In that year Luxembourg saw 945,000 visitors and Serbia 922,000, compared to the figure 7801,000 in Iceland.
Then there are less quantifiable reasons to visit
Since then, the number of foreign travellers in Iceland has of course grown dramatically. So, if you are making your travel plans based on statistics you might reconsider your plans to visit Iceland if the thought of other travellers bothers you. However, one might also take into consideration other factors, like the number of foreign travellers compared to the local population, or land area in square miles or km. On both accounts Iceland certainly continues to come out toward the bottom of the list!
And most visitors probably make their travel plans using other and less quantifiable metrics than the number of other tourists, so, Orbitz’s rationale for visiting Iceland probably makes more sense for most people than a World Bank data sheet:
First-time travelers to this Nordic island nation often describe a visit as the trip of a lifetime, so it’s too bad that it ranks low in comparison to its mainland neighbors. The weather does Iceland no favor (although it’s seldom unbearable) and daylight hours in winter are few and far between, yet the landscape is thrilling including gurgling hot springs, black sand beaches, gargantuan volcanoes and so much more. Book a trip to mainland Europe via Iceland Air and arrange for a multi-day layover in Reykjavik. You won’t be sorry.
