Ad Campaigns Aimed at Vaccinated Tourists

Since vaccinations for COVID-19 are underway in Europe and the US, Icelandic businesses and institutions in the tourism industry are preparing marketing campaigns, aimed at people who have been vaccinated and are planning to travel, Morgunblaðið reports.

Business Iceland (Íslandsstofa) – a public/private partnership to lead the promotion and marketing of the country – has continued marketing the country as a destination during the pandemic. “We keep a close eye on the markets, and when the opportunity arises, we want to be able to step in quickly,” states Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir, program director for Business Iceland.

Icelandair has used a similar strategy – reminding people of Iceland and Icelandair during the pandemic. “That promotion has been successful, because Iceland has received such positive coverage regarding the fight against the coronavirus,” states Birna Ósk Einarsdóttir, managing director of sales at Icelandair.

Sigríður and Birna agree that the UK is a key market for Iceland, making it important to launch marketing campaigns there as soon as the situation improves. Birna points out that elderly citizens in the UK get vaccinated first, and among tourists from the UK, this is an age group that commonly visits Iceland, especially during the fall and winter.

Americans have for years been the largest group of tourists in Iceland, but Iceland is part of the Schengen Area, which comprises 26 European countries, and Schengen borders are still closed.

In an average year, about 50 percent of Icelandair’s customers are from the US. “But we have received excellent media coverage in the US,” Birna states. “Americans appear to be eager to travel,” she adds.

Sigríður is convinced the Icelandic tourism industry will fully recover once the pandemic is behind us.