ICELAND Feel the warmth

About Iceland

​I always thought one of the best reasons to visit Iceland was the Thunder Bread - dough put into a covered pot, and baked overnight from the heat of magma and lava. But the best reason to visit Iceland is the size of the welcome. It encompasses the tourism office, the president, the national airlines, local businesses and the citizens; all of whom take ownership.

I always thought one of the best reasons to visit Iceland was the Thunder Bread - dough put into a covered pot, and baked overnight from the heat of magma and lava. But the best reason to visit Iceland is the size of the welcome. It encompasses the tourism office, the president, the national airlines, local businesses and the citizens; all of whom take ownership.

The famous volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 had devastating effects with abrupt cancellations from tourists. Immediately the country went into damage control to let the world know that travelling to Iceland was not dangerous. 

On June 3, 2010 there was an “Iceland hour.” For one hour, the whole nation sent emails to friends around the world promoting Iceland with a link to the song “Jungle Drum” by Icelandic singer-songwriter Emiliana Torrini. They had participation by one third of the country’s residents. 

Tens of thousands of emails went out and the campaign was endorsed by Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton and Viggo Mortensen. 

In 2011, Visit Iceland encouraged locals to open up their homes to visitors, so President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson extended an invitation for tourists to come to the presidential residence in Reykjavik. On a particular day he served up pancakes; thin and sweet and rolled up with whipped cream and rhubarb jam.

At the time, Sif Gustavvson of Visit Iceland said "Visitors to the president's residence are generally surprised by the lack of security." "It's just him at the door with his dog." 

In 2015 the tourism office launched a campaign called “Ask Gudumundur, the world’s first human search engine.

” Visitors could ask their travel questions to a real Icelander named Gudumundur. They have thousands of them; 4,000 residents with the first name Gudumunder (male) or Gudumunda (female). 

Seven volunteers with this name covered regions across the country and provided online information and advice to tourists planning visits. 

This year’s promotion is based on the policy of Icelandair offering passengers a free stopover up to seven nights on flights to Europe that cross the Atlantic. It’s called Icelandair Stopover Buddy Service and it runs until the end of April. 

The ‘Buddies’ are employees of Icelandair who will act as a personal guide. 

The airline’s website states, “Our staff are as versatile as they are many - they do all kinds of interesting activities when they're off-duty, such as sea swimming, mountain biking, heli-skiing, cross-country running, knitting pink jumpers, and a lot more. You know, quirky and eccentric stuff mixed with your usual variety of extreme sports.” 

You might even get an invitation to the home of your buddy and possibly an offer to taste skyr (a soft cheese product, part of the Icelandic cuisine for over a thousand years). 

Now, wouldn’t breaking bread with an Icelandic host be one of the best reasons to visit?

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