This is true for nations that do not need entry visas, that is, for Americans and most Europeans. But it has a catch. The visitor must not work directly on the island and must prove a monthly income of at least one million Icelandic crowns, approximately 160 thousand Czech crowns.
A similar strategy has recently been chosen by other remote states. Bermuda, Barbados and the Cayman Islands are also trying to attract foreigners to long-term stays. At a time when telework is widespread, this is a fairly logical step. However, Iceland is the only one that has decided to focus exclusively on the wealthiest travelers. For comparison, for a longer stay in Bermuda, it is enough to pay a fee of $ 263, around 5,800 Czech crowns.
The Icelandic government has not commented on its decision. However, residents approached by Bloomberg believe that the goal is to attract foreign capital to the country, but without the crowds of tourists.
So far, the island manages to keep the pandemic under control, registering only five thousand people who have tested positive for coronavirus. However, the influx of foreign visitors could change this quickly, as the local health system is prone to congestion due to the population of less than 370,000 inhabitants. At the same time, politicians want to prevent foreigners from “stealing” jobs from Icelanders during the corona crisis.
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“The main idea is to attract professionals from Silicon Valley or San Francisco to the island to spend their high incomes here, not at home,” said Ásta Helgadóttir, a former member of the Icelandic parliament. Although such long-term foreign guests will not be tourists in the true sense of the word, they can rent now unused holiday cottages and fill empty tables in restaurants.
According to Helgadóttir, the new conditions can be expected to attract wealthy Americans, Canadians and Australians in particular. The island country is likely to use the pandemic to completely restructure the travel industry. Instead of mass tourism, it refocuses on luxury services for a select few.
Iceland was one of the busiest tourist destinations before the corona crisis. In 2018, the country of “fire and ice” was visited by 2.3 million foreigners, about six times the permanent population. The number of visitors fell by 79 percent this year. Some businesses have suffered, but the country, which used to struggle with excessive tourism, began to discover the bright sides of the new trend.
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Einar Saemundsen, director of Iceland’s Þingvellir National Park, for example, mentions the positive impact on nature. Expensive hotel projects are also being developed in the country for a small number of guests. An example is the Retreat at Blue Lagoon hotel, where the visitor pays around 40 thousand crowns per night.
Six Senses, on the other hand, intends to operate a handful of holiday cottages located in the middle of the Icelandic wilderness on an area of sixteen square kilometers from 2022. It will be carbon neutral and holidays in it will obviously not be among the cheapest.
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