Prospects are good for Iceland cruise industry

 

“It felt really good to see the first ship of the season,” says Hafsteinn G. Einarsson, operating manager with Iceland Travel Mart Ltd. “This summer we expect 80 cruise ships calling at Reykjavik harbor carrying 60,000 passengers.”

Same number of cruise ship passengers is expected to visit Iceland this year as last year. However, more income is expected because some ships stay longer in the country and visit more ports than before such as Akureyri, Grundarfjordur, Husavik, Isafjordur, Seydisfjordur and Djupivogur. “This will definitely help local businesses,” Einarsson states.

In recent years cruise ship passengers visiting Iceland have been German citizens, 40%, UK 28%, US citizens 14%, French 3% and other nationals 15%.

A steady cruise ship capacity growth has been recorded in Northern Europe since 2002.  The projected capacity for 2009 is more than three times that of 2002. The Iceland/Greenland sub-market area follows that trend closely, with Iceland becoming increasingly popular as a cruise ship destination.

The new Cruise Line Visitor Center in Reykjavik, owned by the Port of Reykjavik and operated by Iceland Travel Mart Ltd., opened in June 2008.  “It raised the in-port service level quite a bit“, Einarsson happily explains. “With an extended bus-parking area, booking & information services, money exchange, phone and internet services, it is now possible to receive, assist and facilitate the arrival of 2-3.000 passengers in a matter of hours.”

Tourism is increasingly important for Iceland’s economy to bring in foreign currency revenue.

The local currency, the Icelandic krona, has lost 44 percent against the Euro since July 2008. However, cost of tourist services has only increased 10-15% in the local currency. According to Einarsson this means visitors enjoy more competitive prices this year than last year.

The Visitor Center and souvenir shop are open when ships are in port. “On average there are 4 qualified and experienced staff members on duty. They are equipped with an education in tourism and language skills,” Einarsson says.

The cruise ship season in Iceland lasts four months — June through September. The first cruise ship of the season, the Seven Seas Voyager, arrived in Reykjavik May 21st.

Athugasemdir

[Anna Karlsdóttir, 14.6.2009 kl. 14:23]

Smashing!

Ég hitti Ágúst Ágústsson á hátíð hafsins og spurði hvort að samsetning farþega hefði eitthvað breyst - ég var með lausa tilgátu um að nú væru hlutfallslega fleiri þjóðverjar á ferð og hlutfallslega færri bretar og ameríkanar - en hann taldi áhrif heimskreppunnar á farþega samsetningu fyrst verða ljósa á næsta ári.

Við erum að standa okkur vel í að fá þennan hluta ferðamanna til landsins - og vonandi getum við haldið áfram að veita góða þjónustu, vera skemmtileg heim að sækja og vera góð gestgjafaþjóð sem eftir er munað (án þess að horfa einhæft í aukinn fjölda ferðamanna sem einu leið til þróunar ferðamála hér á landi).