The Blue Lagoon resort in southern Iceland is a picturesque network of steaming azure pools surrounded by dark rocks, where tourists soak in geothermal water, undergo spa treatments and enjoy what the resort advertises as a “universe of radiant well-being.”
But last week, a flow of radiant lava erupted from a crater several kilometers from the resort, forcing the evacuation of a whole lot of guests, one other eruption of a volcanic system on the Reykjanes Peninsula that had been dormant for 800 years.
Eruptions began in 2021, with eruptions and earthquakes on the peninsula destroying some homes and forcing villagers to flee their homes. A construction employee went missing in the city of Grindavik after falling right into a crevasse brought on by an earthquake.
The effects of the volcanic eruptions have spread beyond the peninsula, disrupting the country’s tourism business, which relies heavily on tourists.
Arnar Már Ólafsson, director general of the Icelandic Tourist Board, said the impending volcanic eruption that led to the evacuation of Grindavik in November had sparked worldwide concern that had resulted in a decline in tourist numbers.
“A gushing volcano doesn’t sound very appealing,” he said.
Iceland’s national airline, Islandair, said it had also seen a “significant negative impact on bookings” in the final months of 2023. Meanwhile, Icelandic low-cost airline Play said news of the eruption had “cooled demand for Iceland as a travel destination”.
The tourism board has not published estimates of economic losses, and airlines, while saying they’ve suffered a major slowdown in sales, haven’t quantified them.
Airlines officials and the tourism board’s director have strongly stated in interviews and in national media that the response was unjustified because the eruptions posed no immediate threat to visitors or flights. They accused the media of “alarmism.”
“In the international press it looks as if Iceland is ruined” – Birgir Jónsson, then CEO of Play, he said in an interview published in December by the financial magazine.
Tourists flocked to the Reykjanes Peninsula to watch the Northern Lights or swim in the waters of the Blue Lagoon resort. However, since the November earthquakes, the Blue Lagoon had to be closed for several days. Wednesday’s statement said it had also been closed from March 16 until a minimum of Thursday and would proceed to follow authorities’ safety guidelines.
The family-owned Northern Light Inn also had to evacuate its guests 4 times since January and close for several weeks, said Fridrik Einarsson, the inn’s owner. Now they’re making up for the decline in tourist numbers by serving lunch to construction staff constructing protective partitions in the area.
“If this situation continues for a long time, it will ultimately be very, very difficult for us“ said Mr. Einarsson.
Ólafsson said any threat to the Blue Lagoon geothermal resort weakens a key element of Iceland’s tourism sector.
“Without the Blue Lagoon, it would be a different destination,” he said, “like Egypt without the pyramids or Paris without the Eiffel Tower.”
The resort is particularly popular with tourists from the United States, and according to the Blue Lagoon website, hundreds of thousands of people visit it every year. The spa is currently protected by barriers.
The resort owes its existence to geothermal energy produced by the volcanic system, which heats its waters. But that same system is also its main threat today.
Many argue that this paradox lies at the heart of Iceland’s identity as an adventure travel destination, where tourists seek untouched nature in the form of waterfalls, glaciers and hot springs. And 130 volcanoes.
During last year’s volcanic eruptions, when tourists flocked to places where they could see the glowing river of lava, the government had to warn people to stay away from the area because the situation could become dangerous.
Now, Icelandic tour operators say, the anxiety has eased somewhat and demand for tourism has picked up again since January. However, for those remaining on the peninsula, there is no immediate end in sight to disruptions to their activities.
Last week, when Mr. Einarsson, the inn owner, evacuated his guests to another hotel because of a volcanic eruption, he said they could see lava from the parking lot.
“It’s a great experience to see the volcano,” he said.
Mr. Einarsson called his relationship with volcanoes “a difficult love-hate situation.”
On the one hand, he said, “individuals are understandably concerned about staying in a hotel next to an eruption site.” On the other hand, he said, people come to Iceland for the nature, which wouldn’t be the same without the volcanoes.
“And I would not work on this business,” he said.
Egill Bjarnason contributed the report from Gran Canaria, Spain.
