Visitors to Seljalandsfoss waterfall in South Iceland are now required to pay for parking their cars. The new parking fees will be used to fund the maintenence of the parking lot and other facilities at the site. The mayor of the local municipal councel says the area is under threat from growing tourism which has long since exceeded the capacity of the site.
A 2 year process
Passenger vehicles will be expected to pay 700 ISK (6.7 USD/5.7 EUR), and tour buses 3000 ISK (29 USD/25 EUR) per day for parking at the waterfall. The introduction of some sort of entrance fees at Seljalandsfoss was first proposed more than two years ago, but introducing the fees has taken time due to legal hurdles and questions and practical problems.
Read more: The view will still be free – parking not so much: A toll gate planned at Seljalandsfoss waterfall
Local authorities estimate that 500,000 people visited the waterfall last year. The large number of visitors has long since exceeded the capacity of the parking lot, toilet facilities and walking paths.
Tourism should not be a burden on the local community
The local municipality and landowners intend to use the revenue from the parking fees to fund maintenance of the various infrastructure at the site. The municipality has spent in excess of 30 million ISK (285,000 USD/245,000 EUR) on maintenance at Seljalandsfoss in the past 15 years. The waterfall does not generate any revenue for the municipality, which only has 1,749 inhabitants.
We plan to use the money to improve the site at Seljalandsfoss waterfall and insure that the facilities there serve visitors better, so that the munivipality does not need to divert funds from the public purse.
The mayor told Vísir that while the parking lot and walking paths were in dire need for maintenance improving the toilet facilities at the site was a priority. We are getting large numbers of travellers, but the public toilet facilities at the site are woefully inadequate, and so we will be focusing on addressing this problem this year.
Visitors to Seljalandsfoss waterfall in South Iceland are now required to pay for parking their cars. The new parking fees will be used to fund the maintenence of the parking lot and other facilities at the site. The mayor of the local municipal councel says the area is under threat from growing tourism which has long since exceeded the capacity of the site.
A 2 year process
Passenger vehicles will be expected to pay 700 ISK (6.7 USD/5.7 EUR), and tour buses 3000 ISK (29 USD/25 EUR) per day for parking at the waterfall. The introduction of some sort of entrance fees at Seljalandsfoss was first proposed more than two years ago, but introducing the fees has taken time due to legal hurdles and questions and practical problems.
Read more: The view will still be free – parking not so much: A toll gate planned at Seljalandsfoss waterfall
Local authorities estimate that 500,000 people visited the waterfall last year. The large number of visitors has long since exceeded the capacity of the parking lot, toilet facilities and walking paths.
Tourism should not be a burden on the local community
The local municipality and landowners intend to use the revenue from the parking fees to fund maintenance of the various infrastructure at the site. The municipality has spent in excess of 30 million ISK (285,000 USD/245,000 EUR) on maintenance at Seljalandsfoss in the past 15 years. The waterfall does not generate any revenue for the municipality, which only has 1,749 inhabitants.
We plan to use the money to improve the site at Seljalandsfoss waterfall and insure that the facilities there serve visitors better, so that the munivipality does not need to divert funds from the public purse.
The mayor told Vísir that while the parking lot and walking paths were in dire need for maintenance improving the toilet facilities at the site was a priority. We are getting large numbers of travellers, but the public toilet facilities at the site are woefully inadequate, and so we will be focusing on addressing this problem this year.
