Indian Tourists Heading to Iceland to Double in 2016; Tourist Workshop Held in Three Indian Cities

With 30 million Indians expected to travel across the globe by 2018, tourism boards and tour operators companies are selling international destinations big time. Iceland, better known for its volcanic activities hosted a Tourists Workshop in Bengaluru on April 6, 2016, as part of a three city roadshow to promote tourism in Iceland.

Addressing the media, the Ambassador of Iceland, Thórir Ibsen says, “India has a very large tourists population looking for new destinations to visit and Iceland is the perfect place to visit. In terms of numbers, it’s only about 1000 tourists who visited Iceland in 2015 but expect the number to double each year. We are hosting the roadshow in Bangalore to build awareness among the tour operators and intern sell group packages.”

Iceland has become one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world. The number of global tourist arrival in 2015 was 1.2 million and are expecting it to touch 1.6 million or even 2 million in 2016, says Ibsen. In fact, it has grown three times the country’s population and it is growing rapidly.

Ideally group tourism is more popular in Iceland with 40-100 in a group. However, independent tourists also come as part of Euro trips. Lately, the number of Indian tourist visiting Iceland is steadily increasing as more and more people come to know about the country through films, tourism promotions and word of mouth. Indian travellers can reach Iceland by air from most European capital cities with flying time of three hours or less…

It’s stark landscape and amazing range of geological and natural phenomena with imposing glaciers, geysers, black sand beach makes for arresting visuals. Iceland also offers picturesque floating icebergs, majestic waterfalls, stark highlands and lava fields. Its yellow sulphur mountains, active and dormant volcanoes have been a treat for film makers from all over the world.

"The recent Shah Rukh Khan film Dilwale has helped us a lot in creating awareness about Iceland. We recognize India as a huge untapped market and we would like to be the pioneers."

Other prominent films shot in Iceland in the past are The Game of Thrones, Star Trek, Batman Begins, Thor, James Bond Films, Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, Nayak, Brindavana, Aadhavan etc. The spectacular locations, professional services and government incentive makes it indeed one of the best places to shoot a film in the world.