There’s no doubt that countries are going to need to reinvent themselves to attract tourism after and during this pandemic. Many countries such as Italy, Iceland, Greece, and Spain owe much of their economic strength to a now crippled sector. Some countries are trying mollify the damage to this industry by offering on arrival COVID-19 testing, while others are doing so with a required 2 week quarantine.
Iceland of course is at the forefront of this movement with it offering either an on arrival rapid COVID-19 test or a 2 week quarantine for Europeans so that they can visit safely. It has been estimated that tourism makes up nearly 40 percent of all economic revenue on the island nation, so clearly this is very important for the livelihood of the island’s residents.
Anyway, Iceland just launched a new and innovative tourism campaign promoting it as a place for venting out your frustration and anxiety. I don’t know much about you guys, but just thinking about the sound of Icelandic waterfalls certainly calms me down. And if I was anxious, I can’t imagine a better way of venting frustration than yelling at a 200 foot roaring waterfall.
For us Americans who can’t make that journey right now (you can thank you know who for that), Iceland has come up with a unique way to express our frustration too. We can go to the lookslikeyouneediceland.com and record our screams of frustration and just maybe you will be heard…..
How Iceland approached this pandemic is a truly remarkable story to read about much like many others Taiwan, New Zealand, and Germany. If you haven’t read this article in the New Yorker about the country’s success story you should do so now. I’m not saying this due to the outcome, but rather due to just how well written the story is. It reads just like a book.
Bottom Line:
Anyway just thought it was a real neat way for Iceland to reengage with the world’s tourists. They’ve certainly hit the right note with the amount of anxiety, frustration, and negative emotions going all around.
Perhaps someone will listen to our (Americans’) frustration in the end, take pity on our plight, and set up a foolproof testing apparatus so that Americans can once again visit Iceland. I definitely don’t see the federal government (especially the Trump administration) making things better for us anytime soon.
