Travel Planet - Iceland
Iceland, a Nordic island nation, is defined by its dramatic landscape with volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and lava fields. Massive glaciers are protected in Vatnajökull and Snæfellsjökull national parks. Most of the population lives in the capital, Reykjavik, which runs on geothermal power and is home to the National and Saga museums, tracing Iceland’s Viking history.
A trip into a spine-tingling secret world of wonders in Iceland, using state-of-the-art HD cinematography.
With the country poised to welcome 2.3 million visitors by the end of this year, tourists in Iceland will soon exceed the national population by seven to one.
The meteoric rise of tourism in the small Nordic country has prompted the Icelandic government to consider introducing a series of measures to limit arrivals, including a imposing a "nature tax" on tourists to help preserve the country's raw beauty.
With just 340,000 residents spread across a 40,000 square miles, Iceland has witnessed an exponential rise in the number of visitors in recent years, sparked by appearances of its otherworldly landscape in the ever-popular Game of Thrones television series and various Hollywood blockbuster films from Star Wars to Interstellar.
Since 2010 the number of tourists visiting has nearly quadrupled to around 1.8 million tourists, with the number of overnight stays amounting to a total of 7.8 million in 2016. While the number of visitors from Australia is still relatively low, Traveller's readers voted Iceland their 6th favourite country in our 'Destination of the Decade' survey, tied with the US.
Last year, critics warned Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, was "becoming Disneyland", as the number of US tourists alone (around 415,200) surpassed the country's population.
The expanding industry, which is now Iceland's second largest after its wholesale and retail sectors, has raised concerns over the sustainability of such rapid growth.
A trip into a spine-tingling secret world of wonders in Iceland, using state-of-the-art HD cinematography.
With the country poised to welcome 2.3 million visitors by the end of this year, tourists in Iceland will soon exceed the national population by seven to one.
The meteoric rise of tourism in the small Nordic country has prompted the Icelandic government to consider introducing a series of measures to limit arrivals, including a imposing a "nature tax" on tourists to help preserve the country's raw beauty.
With just 340,000 residents spread across a 40,000 square miles, Iceland has witnessed an exponential rise in the number of visitors in recent years, sparked by appearances of its otherworldly landscape in the ever-popular Game of Thrones television series and various Hollywood blockbuster films from Star Wars to Interstellar.
Since 2010 the number of tourists visiting has nearly quadrupled to around 1.8 million tourists, with the number of overnight stays amounting to a total of 7.8 million in 2016. While the number of visitors from Australia is still relatively low, Traveller's readers voted Iceland their 6th favourite country in our 'Destination of the Decade' survey, tied with the US.
Last year, critics warned Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, was "becoming Disneyland", as the number of US tourists alone (around 415,200) surpassed the country's population.
The expanding industry, which is now Iceland's second largest after its wholesale and retail sectors, has raised concerns over the sustainability of such rapid growth.
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