Since last week, many travel companies in the country have seen a sharp drop in bookings in their systems. In some cases, losses can reach several dozen percent.
Data that the Morgunblaðið newspaper has researched in one of the country’s most active markets, serving more than 1,000 Icelandic travel companies, shows that the decline is significant.
To a question to these market participants as to what could explain this sharp reduction, most people attribute it to a change in tourist behavior following the decision announced on July 19 that anyone traveling to Iceland, including vaccinated people, must submit a negative PCR test to avoid quarantine.
In the week of announcement (it was Monday), the decline in the aforementioned market was 33%. Following the government’s announcement of stricter national restrictions on Friday, July 23, the number of bookings decreased by another 33% according to market data.
Source: Yle