Millionth tourist to Iceland expected soon

In just over a week’s time, Iceland’s main international airport is expected to greet its 1,000,000^th foreign arrivals passenger of 2016.

97% of all international visitors to Iceland arrive at Keflavík International Airport (KEF), and as tourist numbers increase year-on-year, so the million-passenger milestone moves earlier and earlier.

“By the end of July, an estimated 930,000 foreign tourists will have flown into KEF,” said Guðjón Sigurðsson, spokesperson for airport operator Isavia, last week.

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“Our forecast for August is 240,000 more – so we reckon that the 1,000,000^th passenger will arrive on or around 10 August.”

Last year, this milestone was reached one month later, in September. In 2014, the total number of foreign visitors was 1.1 million, meaning that the 1,000,000^th passenger must have arrived much closer to the end of the year.