Eliza Reid, wife of current Icelandic President Gudni Johannesson, who was a United Nations tourism ambassador, said that safety, respect and communication with locals are factors that contribute to making this Nordic island nation a "magnet" for domestic and foreign tourists.
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| First Lady of Iceland Eliza Reid. |
In July 2017, Eliza Reid and her husband Gudni Johannesson celebrated their wedding anniversary in Reykjavik, Iceland. It was a summer evening, and many people were out and about. Reid suggested that she and her husband take a walk after the party. However, President Gudni Johannesson was initially reluctant because he did not want to be surrounded by selfie-crazed crowds.
“I told my husband not to worry,” Reid recalls, and she was right. “We went out and of course, no one recognized him because it was mostly tourists.”
In the 20 years since moving to Iceland, Canadian-born Eliza Reid has seen the Nordic island nation’s tourism industry grow by leaps and bounds, with the number of visitors rising from a modest few hundred thousand to more than 2 million per year before the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s quite a feat for a country with a population of less than 400,000.
The boom in Iceland's tourism industry, which Reid says has brought both opportunities and challenges to the Nordic country, is a change she has witnessed and been a part of.
In 2016, when her husband was elected president of Iceland, Reid was editor of an in-flight magazine for Iceland Airlines. Three years later, as First Lady, Reid has taken on the role of promoting Iceland as a tourist destination and a trade partner.
In a conversation with a New York Times reporter, the First Lady of Iceland shared how tourists can meet Icelanders and her thoughts on the term “overtourism”.
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Iceland's tourism industry has seen a huge boom in the 20 years since you arrived in the country. How has that transformation come about?
Travel has opened up so much more for us. You can see the increase in destinations if you fly directly from Iceland, the number of restaurants and cafes in Reykjavik. Shops and many places are also open later and longer than before.
Icelanders love to travel. They are curious and interested in the outside world, and they are happy when the outside world is interested in us. You can see that in the statistics about how Icelanders feel about tourism here, because tourism is a huge contributor to the Icelandic economy and we are very proud of our country.
In her book “Sprakkar’s Secret: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They’re Changing the World,” she argues that tourism helped pull Iceland out of the 2008 economic crisis?
Yes, there was an economic crisis and there was a volcanic eruption. At first glance, both seemed negative, but in some ways they were also beneficial.
The volcano erupted, transport across Europe was suspended, and many people realized that Iceland was much closer than they thought. Iceland was not far away, not difficult to reach, and somehow exotic. And then we saw a boom in tourism.
You know, 25 years ago when I first went to Iceland, people would ask me with surprise, “You mean Iceland?” Now people will say, “Oh, I’m going there,” or “My neighbor is going,” or “I want to go.” Iceland is more present in people’s memories.
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Immediately after the 2010 volcanic eruption, the “Inspired by Iceland” tourism promotion campaign was launched. I was told that more than 25% of the Icelandic workforce was involved in it.
People would invite their friends to visit Iceland. I did, and so did many others. The campaign was brilliantly executed and conveyed many important messages about sustainability, as well as Icelanders’ commitment to responsible tourism.
I think tourists want to learn about the countries they visit and what they can do there, the problem is sometimes they don't know where to find that information. The Icelandic pledge is a great way to remind people to be kind to nature and make sure you have a travel plan in case something happens.
In her book, she suggests that one of the best ways for visitors to get to know Icelanders is to soak in a hot tub at a geothermal pool. Why?
They say if you want to meet an Englishman, go to a pub; if you want to meet a Frenchman, go to a cafe. And definitely in Iceland, go to a swimming pool, because that’s where you can meet people – morning, afternoon or evening. And I recommend that visitors try different types of swimming pools, because they all have their own character and you can meet different types of people. They are always clean and affordable, which is something all the locals swear by.
Reading her book, I felt that the Icelandic community is increasingly diverse, yet still very close-knit.
On the weekend, I had to buy a bra - you know, it was an interesting experience. I was talking to the woman who worked at the store, and the woman in the dressing room next door said, “I know that voice.” And it was our chief medical officer - like the Anthony Fauci of Iceland. And we laughed that only in Iceland would we run into each other in a lingerie store. The next day I ran into her again in the grocery store. And you think: Iceland is a small country.
A few years before the pandemic, Iceland started attracting media attention for “overtourism”?
Overtourism is an unfair term in my opinion. Yes, the number of tourists is increasing and the percentage increase is huge, but a lot of that has to do with seasonality. People used to come in the summer because you couldn’t stay anywhere in the countryside in the winter. But now, two-thirds of people travel in other seasons too, not just in the summer months. They come to our country all year round and visit more.
In the larger cities in Europe, you see challenges with accommodation and affordable housing. We see that here too. But overall, I think tourism is a good thing if it is managed properly and we have long-term sustainability plans. Tourism brings capital to the economy. That is why it is good to have more family-owned and run businesses. We need big corporations; they pay a lot of taxes.
In 2017, she was appointed as the United Nations Special Ambassador for Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals.
2017 is the UN Year of Sustainable Tourism and I was delighted to be given that role. I think the sustainability angle is very, very important. It fits in with a lot of my personal interests, also because a lot of women work in tourism. And I'm really interested in exploring this idea of tourism as a pathway to peace, especially in former conflict areas.
What do you hope people can learn from a visit to this Nordic island nation?
I think when we travel, we remember the people we meet, the cultural experiences we have, and everything that comes with it. I was reading Stanley Tucci’s book, and he called Icelandic food a revelation. I think he was expecting pickled ram’s testicles and rotting shark – but he had this amazing meal. And that’s what we remember about our travels.
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