Iceland is having a moment right now. Maybe it was the football team’s plucky showing in the Euro 2016 games, or their invigorating Viking war chant, or the madly enthusiastic television commentator/fan or just the general sense of positivity exuded by supporters – whatever it is, it made us look at the Nordic island with renewed interest. The tourism boom it has been experiencing since the financial crash is now predicted to be even greater. Visitors to Iceland have said that it delivers the goods.
A friend who has just been, came back raving about the astoundingly beautiful scenery, the clean air, the sweetness of the locally-reared lamb and – mostly - the lack of crowds. She said that even after trekking for half an hour on the most popular tourist trails, she wouldn’t come across anybody to disturb her nature reverie. For some people, this stillness can be rather enervating, but for us – coming from an overcrowded, noisy and built-up island, the lack of tourist hordes can be a soothing balm to the general hustle and bustle back home.
Now the lack of crowds can be attributed to the fact that Iceland is very sparsely populated – the least sparsely populated country in Europe, with a total population totalling less than that of Malta. And yet, despite this fact, the authorities are concerned about the number of visitors to the island.
They are worried about the effect that the sheer volume of visitors is having on the local infrastructure. They don’t want to kill the tourism goose but they’ve realised that crowds trampling over sensitive sites destroy the very thing that attracted them in the first place. The influx of tourists means that many places in the capital are losing their residential character and pricing the locals out of their neighbourhood.
We were never a ‘less is more’ kind of society, so any kind of limits or restrictions are anathema to us – never mind the short- or long-term consequences
And before somebody pipes up about how rising property prices is always a good thing, perhaps they’d like to spare a thought for the many residents who would like to continue living in their home and in their community without being priced out of their own locality.
At any rate, the Icelandic authorities have recognised the dangers of having too many visitors. They are calculating how many visitors key sites like Geysir and the geothermal spa at the Blue Lagoon can manage, and may then create caps limiting further access to the sites. There is also talk of a blanket tourist tax to be added on top of all fares to the country as a way of scraping back some money to put into better tourist infrastructure.
Now these measures may appear totally crazy to us – brought up with the constant refrain that all type of business is terrific and that more business is even more terrific. We were never a ‘less is more’ kind of society, so any kind of limits or restrictions are anathema to us – never mind the short- or long-term consequences. That’s why successive ministers of tourism break out into a celebratory conga dance when we reach the million-visitor mark and practically trip over themselves to reward that lucky millionth visitor.
The Maltese authorities shy away from proposing any measure – however minimal – that would impinge on the number of visitors to the island, or even act so as to mitigate some of the effects that the masses of visitors have on the local infrastructure. Look at how the eco-tax saga has panned out.
Earlier last year, it was announced that a very reasonable eco-tax of 50 cents per night per adult visitor would be imposed. This was capped at €5, so it was hardly going to break the bank for anybody thinking of visiting the island. Similar measures are imposed in practically every European city I’ve been to.
And yet, the hotel industry made such a fuss that the minister was forced to backtrack and postpone the imposition of the eco-tax for several months, which may somehow be extended as we reach the last furlough of the present government’s administration.
This hesitancy in taking measures to regulate the number of visitors to our country means that we are set to become Benidorm’s bratty little sister.
If you think that’s a good thing, just watch a clip from any one of the Benidorm TV series and see if you don’t come away admitting that “Enough is as good as a feast”.
cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt