What stood out at the Seatrade 2026 cruise conference in Las Palmas was that this is a major business development platform for Iceland. There has never been such a large group from Iceland, and our booth has never been more spectacular – organized by Visit Iceland and to Iceland’s great credit.
If things proceed as expected, there is every likelihood that we will regain our former strength by 2030 to the benefit of all ports and destinations around Iceland. However, every single conversation that Cruise Iceland members have had with the cruise lines has highlighted an inexplicable and unpredictable environment of taxes, fees, and regulations in Iceland, which is stated to be unique in the world—that is, the bureaucracy in Iceland is seen as unique on a global scale and is something that needs to be adjusted for the future of tourism in Iceland.
Therefore, it matters now more than ever that we get peace to do our work properly, which is to restore cruise destination Iceland to former stability and strength, so that all Icelandic companies, ports, and municipalities that have billions of ISK at stake can conduct their business in peace and under a framework of predictability and reliability.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that it was instructive to be on the periphery of Europe in the Canary Islands, which are located off the beaten path in the Atlantic, just like Iceland. The difference here, however, is that in the Canary Islands, there is an understanding that the islands are a periphery and the framework takes that into account, as the islands are exempt from value-added tax. This is exactly what we must look to when the committee work in Alþingi’s committees begins in full force next month. We are now seeing clearly that we are losing circumnavigation ships from us because the customs duty exemption change from 2012 is not working as intended due to the introduction of VAT liability this year – which has been very harmful to Iceland’s communities. This must be changed so that the legislative change from 2012 has the effect that was originally intended—to attract cruise to an Island in the North Atlantic that needs to distribute tourists and strengthen communities in its more distant locations.