Targeting 1.6 mn tourists
Iceland is focusing on India as a potential market and is trying to boost the numbers through roadshows and social media.
Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Iceland, reveals that Iceland has everything on offer for tourists from India. "We would like to increase tourist numbers from India by marketing Iceland as a destination. One can experience something new in Iceland. Iceland has everything and one can travel from here to the US in five hours, and to Europe in three hours."
Talking about the promotions in India, Thorleifur Thor Jonsson, Manager, Promote Iceland, says, “We work closely with travel agents and have conducted roadshows in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, with a focus to set up contact with B2B companies. We are educating and informing travel agencies, so that they can consider Iceland as an option for the sophisticated Indian travellers.” Apart from that, Jonsson adds, “We use social media as the primary source of information and attract people. This is the best way to reach our clientele.”
However, the number of Indians visiting the destination is not huge. “We are seeing a small number, between 1000-2000 Indian visitors to Iceland every year. However, it is growing pretty fast and I am convinced that with the huge boost in publicity that Iceland has got through Indian cinema, we would see much more of Indians coming to Iceland,” adds Jonsson.
Sveinsson reveals, “We got 1.2 million tourists in 2015 and are estimating 1.62 million this year. It has been growing around 20 per cent every year. The majority of tourists come from US, Europe, Germany, and UK. The number of tourists from Asia, especially Japan and China, is also growing. In fact, our international airport sees about 6-7 million passengers because of the connection between Europe and North America. Currently, we have around 20 airlines flying to Iceland from Europe and US.”
Jonsson added, “Next summer, you’d be able to fly to Iceland from 80 different destinations. We don’t have direct flight from India as yet, but all the major hubs will have direct flights to Iceland.”