As I mentioned in part one of the “6 Reasons Why Iceland is so Popular” episode, this amazing country has many reasons for why people are flocking to it. In this episode, I share my final three out of six reasons. Make sure you check out the first three reasons I shared in the last episode of the All Things Iceland podcast.

4. Iceland is a Convenient Place To Catch a Connecting Flight

If you are traveling from North America to mainland Europe and vice versa, Iceland is in the middle of those places, which makes it a very convenient place for airline companies to stop and refuel, as well as offer connecting flights to many destinations. Iceland, as a hub for connecting to other flights, has made travel to many places more accessible to people. Even though connecting via Iceland’s Keflavík airport has been used by travelers for over 50 years, it is only in the last 20 years that Iceland has experienced many travelers leaving the airport to explore the country. Up until the 1980s, the number of tourists to Iceland did not exceed 80,000 people in a single year. In fact, the travels of Icelandic people usually exceeded the number of tourists back then.

Keflavík Airport by WhatsOn

It wasn’t until the 2000s that the number of tourists began to increase. In the early 2000s, Iceland received around 300,000 visitors, which was more than the number of people living on the island! By 2016, that number had sharply risen to almost 1.8 million foreign visitors.

# of Tourist to Iceland vs Icelandic Population

Iceland is still a great place for planes to stop and refuel, and it is used by many airlines that want to have connecting flights for their customers. However, it is now a must-see destination, and foreigners are more than happy to leave the airport and discover the country’s unique features. Iceland is so popular because it has been made easy for people to visit.

5. Movies and shows filmed in Iceland

The amount of movies and shows filmed in Iceland is astonishing.  I might be stretching it here, but I believe that most people that live in the Western world, and who actively go to the movie theater and/or watch television, have watched at least one of the films listed below:

1. 1. • Batman Begins
      • Die Another Day
      • Fast & Furious 8
      • Flags of Our Fathers
      • Interstellar
      • Judge Dredd
      • Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
      • Letters from Iwo Jima
      • Noah
      • Oblivion
      • Prometheus
      • Star Trek into Darkness
      • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
      • Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

This is not an exhaustive list of all of the films that have been shot in Iceland but it gives you a taste of major motion pictures that have captured footage in Iceland’s diverse and remarkable nature.

The stunning scenery showcased in these films has inspired people to visit. Plus, who wouldn’t want to go to a destination that feels like you have been transported to outer space?

6. Iceland is so popular because of Strategic Marketing

The promotion of Iceland as a destination has been infused with creativity, humor and a lot of strategic planning.  According to the Promote Iceland Act, “the objective of the act is to strengthen Iceland’s image and reputation, enhance the competitive position of the Icelandic undertakings on foreign markets and to attract foreign investment and tourists to the country.” While that is a boring statement, how the country has gone about creating ways of attracting investments and visitors is far from a snore fest.

Photo – Inspired by Iceland

Inspired by Iceland is the official marketing arm for the country as a destination. They developed their building blocks for marketing and that serves as the guiding light for how they present the country to the world. In the PDF of their building blocks, the first line on the list of what they want to keep in mind when they promote the country is, “Iceland is not for everyone!” So many countries want to market to everyone but when they do that, it can be so easy for them to lose focus on what they represent. Because the Inspired by Iceland team accepts that the country is not for everyone, they attract their core target audience. Iceland is so popular because word of mouth about it has spread quickly. These people, like myself and many others, fall in love with the country and become super fans. They spread the word about how amazing the country is and why it is worth it to visit and/or live here.

The content that Inspired by Iceland produces is always fun, educational and features Iceland’s stunning nature. You can check out a funny video that they recently produced called the Hardest Karaoke Song in the World. It has over 2 million views on Youtube. It  attempts to teach visitors the Icelandic language and show the seven spectacular regions of the country.

Another super successful marketing initiative that has appealed to visitors is Icelandair’s stopover option. The airline Icelandair allows for its passengers to stopover in Iceland for up to seven nights at no additional charge. An example of this, is that a person flying from New York to Paris on an Icelandair flight can stopover in Iceland for up to seven nights before continuing on their destination, which is Paris in this situation.  If you have a round trip ticket, you can stopover for up to seven days on your way to Paris and on your way back to New York. Again, for no additional charge. I have included a screenshot of what that example looks like when you are booking on the site below.

Because Icelandair is going to stop in Iceland between many of  its destinations anyway, this is a genius idea. It has attracted the attention of many travelers and has incentivized them to stay in Iceland for a few nights to see what people are raving about.

While Icelandair does have this great deal, they are not an inexpensive airline. In 2011, the Icelandic budget airline WowAir, which was founded by Skúli Mogensen, came onto the scene.  Their low fares have made Iceland even more accessible to travelers. There is no inflight entertainment and you pay for pretty much everything, except for oxygen, on the flight.  But if you are on a budget, you can find an inexpensive flight to and from their many destinations in North America and Europe. They also just recently announced flights to India.

Photo – Wow Air

Marketing from tourist companies, famous photographers and influencers are reaching millions of people on social media, blogs and travel websites. These outlets are playing a significant role in helping to market the country.

*By the way, I am not being sponsored to promote any of the companies mentioned in this podcast episode and show notes. If my content is ever being sponsored, I will be upfront about it.

I would love to hear what your thoughts are on these six reasons and if you think I missed any.

As you can see from Part One and Two of the “6 Reasons Why Iceland Is So Popular”, Iceland is a small country but it has a big personality.

Random Fact about Iceland

There is no McDonald’s restaurant in Iceland. The franchised locations, 3 in total, closed in 2009 because of the financial crisis in the country. Hear what the former owner had to say about how difficult it was to keep the locations open at 14:20 in the podcast.

The Icelandic Word of the Episode

The Icelandic word of the episode is bíomynd, which means movie. Listen to the podcast at 16:09 to hear how it is pronounced.

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Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að lesa ( og að hlusta). Sjáumst fljótlega!

Thank you kindly for reading (and listening). See you soon!