Our Efforts Towards Sustainable Tourism In Iceland

Iceland’s popularity as a travel destination has skyrocketed in the past decade. Once a relatively quiet spot with fewer than 500,000 visitors in 2010, the country now welcomes over two million tourists yearly. In 2024, Iceland recorded 2.26 million foreign visitors, reflecting a 2% increase from the previous year, according to the Icelandic Tourist Board’s report. The trend suggests that Iceland has become one of the world’s top cold-weather destinations, drawing travelers eager to experience its glaciers, volcanoes, and Northern Lights.

With tourism continuing to grow, Iceland’s capital and natural wonders remain high on the must-visit list for adventure seekers worldwide.

Due to the sudden growth in popularity among travelers, Iceland has been mentioned in the context of over-tourism. In reality, while Iceland’s most popular destinations are certainly busier than they were a decade ago, compared to other major travel hotspots, the country is far from crowded. Here's a quick comparison:

• Tenerife, a famed holiday island in the Canary Islands, is 50 times smaller than Iceland and received over 7 million tourists in 2024 (3,569 people/km², 9,244/mi²).
  
  
• While Hawaii is 3.6 times smaller than Iceland and received 9,65 million tourists in 2023 (580 people/km², 1,503/mi²).
  
  
• France is 6.3 times larger than Iceland and received 100 million tourists in 2023 (181 people/km², 469/mi²).
  
  
• Norway is 3.7 times larger than Iceland and has 5.95 million international visitors in 2023 (15 people/km², 39/mi²).

Iceland received around 2.26 million visitors in 2024, which translates to about 22 visitors/km² (57 visitors/mi²) annually. Even when excluding the most visited glacier areas, the density remains relatively low at 25 people/km² (65 people/mi²). In contrast, France sees 181 people per km² (469/mi²), and Hawaii reaches 580 people per km² (1,503/mi²).

These figures are spread throughout the year, meaning that at any given time, the actual number of tourists in Iceland is much lower. While peak seasons bring more visitors to popular sites, vast areas remain quiet, and well-managed tourism ensures that travelers can still experience Iceland’s natural wonders without feeling overcrowded.

Tourism in Iceland is still mostly seen as a positive thing, bringing jobs, business opportunities, and more services, especially in places that used to have fewer options. People in both Reykjavík and South Iceland say they enjoy the economic benefits and cultural exchange that come with visitors. But as the number of tourists keeps rising, some locals are starting to feel the strain—especially in the summer when the crowds are at their peak.

In research published in 2024 by the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre, 66% of Reykjavík residents say summer tourist numbers are reasonable. However, 30% believe there are too many visitors during peak season. Over 40% of South Iceland residents said the number of tourists is too high both in summer and winter. Despite this, most people still feel positive about tourism, and only a small percentage find tourists disruptive to daily life. In fact, over 90% of capital area residents said that tourists don’t interfere with their daily routines.

Meanwhile, in Suðurnes, attitudes remain largely positive, with between 56-66% of residents believing tourism has improved society, similar to the national average of 53-67% over the past survey years​. Despite some concerns, 76% of Suðurnes residents still feel that tourism’s benefits outweigh its downsides, reinforcing the overall positive sentiment.

While opinions are divided on whether Iceland should continue actively promoting tourism, most residents don’t want strict limits on visitor numbers. In Suðurnes, 65% of residents still support continued tourism marketing for the region, which is a higher level of support than in other areas​. The locals also want better planning to ensure the industry remains sustainable.

Overall, Icelanders still welcome visitors, but they also want a system that makes tourism better for everyone—locals and travelers alike. That means managing peak seasons more effectively, protecting nature, improving infrastructure, and ensuring that Iceland’s famous hospitality isn’t taken for granted.

At Arctic Adventures, we take immense pride in being one of Iceland’s largest and most sustainable tour operators. Our mission is rooted in a deep respect for Iceland's breathtaking landscapes and unique cultural heritage. Every aspect of our operations is guided by the belief that “Nature is the adventure”—a principle that shapes how we design our tours, engage with our clients, and interact with the environment.

As a successful market player, we’re aware that our potential guests are well-informed and demand quality service. When choosing from the wide array of Icelandic tour operators, our potential guests always prefer the more responsible service provider. We expect the number of eco-conscious travelers to grow rapidly in the future.

To satisfy our potential customers’ needs and ease their concerns about the negative impact of their travels, it’s essential for us to maintain high-quality service and work towards sustainable operations. This not only brings great rewards for our business but also offers benefits to the environment, the communities living in the destinations, and, of course, to our customers. A more eco-friendly holiday is always a better holiday.

The roots of our company lie in our passion for Icelandic nature. It provides the adventure itself, as the environment is our beloved playground. There are only a few inhabited places in the world where the natural environment remains as untouched as it is in Iceland. This is something we take great pride in and are focused on preserving.

Ensuring that future generations can experience the same things that we can experience today requires careful planning. During everyday operations, it can be easy to lose track of our long-term goals.

A good sustainability policy is like a business plan; it controls the processes from the lowest level of operation up to the systematic regulations, starting small but thinking big. We’re confident that the target that we’ve set for ourselves is realistic, achievable, and efficient.

We’re committed to protecting the natural environment, wildlife, and natural resources when developing and managing our tourism activities.

Thinking about the long-term, we’re always looking for new and better ways to make our operations more sustainable and aren’t afraid to swim against the current to do so.

We’re constantly monitoring, re-focusing, re-thinking, and adapting to changes – both environmentally and culturally – to ensure the balance between limits and usage.

To show respect to our guests, we aim to maintain a high standard and provide travelers with quality service and authentic tourist experiences that celebrate and conserve Icelandic nature, heritage, and culture. We respect and support our locals by creating socio-economic benefits for their communities.

We work closely with relevant Icelandic associations, participating in research and undertaking voluntary work with local communities and landowners in the areas where tours are operated. We make regular donations to organizations and support their efforts in various ways.

“Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.”

So goes the shortened principle that we follow and promote. Every member of the Arctic Adventures family is committed to sharing their love for Icelandic nature and promoting environmental awareness in each of our guests.

Our tour guides are the most dedicated nature lovers in our company. It was true passion that led them to choose Icelandic nature as their daily workplace and they’re naturally committed to protecting it. Our guides are trained to share their outstanding knowledge with our guests in an entertaining way and to encourage them to behave responsibly so that they leave no trace in Iceland’s fragile environment.

Sustainable tourism isn’t exclusively dependent on tour operators. It requires the determination of travelers as well. But tour operators play a great role in educating and engaging visitors to behave more cautiously and become more responsible tourists.

We put great effort into marketing and promoting our principles to a broad audience. We not only promote them to our guests but also to the hundreds of thousands of readers that visit our websites and social media channels searching for valuable information about Iceland. We truly believe that our words have a great impact.

Our plan to become more sustainable is future-oriented but also based on real, everyday actions. Just like in any business, great achievements in environmental protection can be accomplished by making an effort every single day. Here are some of the practical steps we are taking to support our sustainability policy.

• We are changing our fleet of vehicles to electric or hybrid alternatives. We’re additionally training our guides on eco-driving techniques to enhance fuel saving and lower our emissions. We aim to purchase more eco-friendly vehicles in the future.
  
  
• We’ve created strict regulations to lessen Arctic Adventures’ idling times. We’ve also installed trackers in our vehicles that send alerts when they’re idling or regularly leaving the engine on. This regulation resulted in a 40% drop in idling times.
  
  
• We avoid long-distance procurement when purchasing products and equipment. By choosing Icelandic goods, we reduce transport-related emissions and ensure the freshness of food and supplies used in our operations.
  
  
• We make it possible for our customers to use public transport systems instead of minibusses to get to specific hiking areas where our guided hikes are operated, such as Skógar and Þórsmörk, the trailheads of the Laugavegur Trail.
  
  
• We’ve made a deal with Strætó (the official Icelandic public transport company) so that our team members can purchase yearly passes at a better rate to encourage the use of public transport.
  
  
• We’ve made showers available at the office to encourage people to walk, run, or bike to work and back.

• We carry out what we carry in. Our guides remove all waste from the tour areas we operate in and dispose of any waste found in the area, even when that waste isn’t connected to the operation of our tours.
  
  
• We organize clean-up projects in multiple locations around Iceland at least once a year. The team members of Arctic Adventures – which include hundreds of people – regularly participate in such projects organized by others.
  
  
• We recycle all waste at the office, including paper, plastic, cans, bottles, and compostable waste. We encourage our team to do so out in the field as well.
  
  
• We make sure to properly dispose of all waste including batteries and hazardous waste. This applies to the field of operation as well as at Arctic Adventures facilities and offices.
  
  
• We’ve eliminated the use of disposable or individually packaged products where possible.
  
  
• We use multipurpose culinary items on our tours and are extra careful not to use disposable cups for hot chocolate and coffee when served on our tours.
  
  
• We bring ziplock bags on all of our Highland expeditions to make sure nothing gets left behind, including food, waste, or even toilet paper.
  
  
• We inform clients of our “Leave No Trace” policy and explain how it applies to them.
  
  
• We ensure no contaminants enter water sources or systems.
  
  
• Our guides carefully inspect campsites and rest areas to ensure they are left in the same condition as they were found, if not better.

• We’re committed to responsible whale watching and making sure that our actions don’t damage marine wildlife in any way. On our whale-watching tours, we strictly follow the Code of Conduct developed by marine biologist experts at IceWhale (the Icelandic Whale Watching Association). This is a set of careful regulations that aim to minimize the impact of whale-watching vessels on cetaceans and to increase the sustainability of whale-watching operations in Iceland, both for animal welfare and passenger enjoyment. Find more about our responsible whale watching in Iceland.
  
  
• We support the Orca Guardians, a new organization that helps promote sustainable killer whale watching in Iceland and has developed an orca-specific code of conduct for Icelandic killer whale watching boats.

• On our multi-day tours, we regularly visit remote farms and small communities where our guests can purchase handmade souvenirs and try authentic local food.
  
  
• On our tours, where meals are included, we use locally sourced products to support local farmers and producers. We’ve abolished the use of goods made by companies that fail to recognize environmental guidelines or their workers’ rights.

• We’ve decided to reduce printing brochures or buying advertising in printed mediums. This step was taken to decrease the use of the toxic chemicals used to break down ingredients for paper production and in ink, as the inks used in industrial printing affect the environment in various harmful ways.
  
  
• On our tours, we always accept e-vouchers; no printing needed.
  
  
• We use online documents for all contracts and file keeping.
  
  
• We recycle all the paper at our offices.

• We work in close collaboration with Safetravel Iceland, a project from the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR), which promotes safe and responsible travel in Iceland.
  
  

• We support the “The Icelandic Pledge” campaign, which is a project from Promote Iceland, a public-private partnership established to promote Iceland as a tourism destination. The Icelandic Pledge is an online agreement designed to advocate responsible traveling. It offers tourists the ability to sign and take a pledge where they promise to respect nature when traveling in the country.
  
  

• We are members of IceWhale (the Icelandic Whale Watching Association), whose aim is to inform and educate tourists about whale meat consumption in Iceland. The purpose of the campaign “Meet Us Don’t Eat Us” is to gain visitor’s support to end commercial whaling instead of contributing to it by ordering whale in Reykjavík restaurants.
  
  

• During our tours, we discourage travelers from taking natural souvenirs and encourage them to take only photographs instead.
  
  

• Our guides educate all participants on how they can minimize their environmental impact by, for example, staying on marked paths and trails whenever possible.
  
  

• We partner with SoGreen because we believe in their mission to tackle climate change through education. Based in Reykjavik, SoGreen empowers marginalized girls by generating carbon credits in collaboration with NGOs, recognizing that girls’ education is a powerful solution for both climate justice and social equity. Their work reduces child marriages and teen pregnancies and strengthens communities facing the climate crisis.

Arctic Adventures has a long history of offsetting carbon emissions through strategic environmental initiatives. For years, we partnered with Kolviður, the Iceland Carbon Fund, to plant 10,000 trees in Iceland. These forests were carefully designed to absorb CO₂, prevent soil erosion, and restore Iceland’s natural landscapes. Through our collaboration with Kolviður, these forests continue to contribute to Iceland’s reforestation and climate efforts.

Building on this foundation, Arctic Adventures has now partnered with SoGreen, a Reykjavík-based organization tackling climate change through verified projects. SoGreen’s work goes beyond forestry—it focuses on generating carbon credits through various initiatives that support climate action and community-driven projects. With SoGreen, we continue our commitment to measuring, analyzing, and offsetting our carbon footprint in a way that aligns with science-backed solutions for a more sustainable future. This partnership allows us to ensure that our contributions have a real and lasting impact in the fight against climate change.

We are proud to hold the Vakinn Bronze Class Environmental Certificate, an official recognition of our commitment to sustainability, environmental responsibility, and ethical business practices. This certification, awarded by the Icelandic Tourist Board, is only given to tourism businesses that meet strict quality and environmental criteria across all areas of operation.

Arctic Adventures has successfully maintained this certification for several years, continuously improving our sustainability efforts. In November 2024, we completed our latest Vakinn audit, reaffirming our commitment to high environmental standards and responsible tourism. This process evaluates our policies, operational systems, and environmental impact, ensuring we remain aligned with Vakinn’s rigorous sustainability requirements. Our current certification and audit confirmation are available in the appendices of this report.

Being Vakinn-certified means that we:

• Operate ethically and professionally, ensuring safe and responsible adventure experiences.
• Prioritize sustainability by minimizing our environmental impact and promoting responsible tourism.
• Educate guests and staff on conservation, safety, and respectful travel practices.

We are determined to build on these efforts, striving toward higher certifications in Vakinn’s environmental program. By continuously improving waste reduction, carbon offsetting, and sustainable operations, we aim to set new standards for responsible tourism in Iceland.

Together, we can protect Iceland’s fragile wilderness while ensuring future generations can continue to explore and appreciate its breathtaking landscapes.