Visit Iceland and Embassy of Iceland New Delhi hosted Iceland Tourism Road Show
With an aim to tap the burgeoning Indian outbound market, Visit Iceland in association with the Embassy of Iceland New Delhi hosted a Road Show, Press Meet and Networking evening in New Delhi and Mumbai in September.
H.E. Mr. Gudni Bragason, Ambassador to New Delhi says, “As India is the first major Asian market to open after Covid, it is most important for us to tap its potential. Travel had almost stopped during the pandemic, but now we are hoping for a swift revival. Iceland has a lot to offer for Indians as our nature is strikingly different from anything you can experience in India. There are breath-taking Glaciers, Northern Lights, Clean Air and Geothermal heated pools. Besides, Icelandic food is known for its freshness and can easily be adapted to Indian palette. Through this Roadshow and interactions, our aim is to further promote our destination and interact with the Travel Agencies in India and present them with opportunities of selling Iceland while understanding the obstacles they face in doing so.”
Mr. Thorleifur Thor Johnsson, Visit Iceland says, “Indian outbound traveller is on a lookout for fresh and unexplored destinations, which is where Iceland fits in perfectly. In 2019, 19,852 Indians visited Iceland, which was a steady increase from 10,944 in 2017. However, these numbers came down drastically in the last two years due to the pandemic and now Iceland is back in India to work on these numbers as believe India a potential source market for its tourism. To help them in the process, Mr Vineet Gopal, Director Representation World is organising the Roadshow as well as the Press Meet for Iceland Tourism. We are a small group this time but hopefully we can return with a larger group soon.”
The Incoming Delegation of Partners for Roadshow this year includes Mr. Thorleifur Thor Johnson, Senior Manager, Trade Delegations – Business Iceland; Mr. Ársæll Hardarson, Regional Manager, GSA Asia, Middle East &; South America, Icelandair; Mr. Erling Aspelund and Ms. Kristín Björnsdóttir, Owners, Iceland Encounter; Bjarni Hrafn Ingólfsson Managing Director; Terra Nova.
Ms. Kristín Anna Tryggvadóttir, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Iceland in New Delhi says, ‘’Visa remains a concern this holiday season for European & Schengen Countries. We received high number of Iceland visa applications and I understand and appreciate the importance of India tourism and we are working hard to resolve this.”
Ms. Deepika Sachdev, Advisor for Tourism, Culture & Public Diplomacy, Embassy of Iceland in New Delhi says “Tourism is the fastest growing connection between India and Iceland.There is a fast-growing interest of Indian travellers to visit Iceland to experience its natural beauty and of course the Northern lights. Indian travellers are not afraid to brave extreme cold weather as a survey revealed a 34 per cent growth in Indian travellers wanting to visit Iceland. Thus, there has been a rapid increase in the number of tourists from India over the past four years. At the Embassy it is our constant endeavour to promote Iceland as an exotic tourist destination for Indian travellers. Iceland is on the bucket list of many people and it is an excellent location to witness Northern lights and its picturesque landscape.”
