CLIA and Cruise Iceland Stakeholder Lunch calls for predictability as industry faces headwinds.
Representatives from Iceland’s ports, government, tourism industry and major cruise lines
gathered at the Parliament Hotel in Reykjavik on September 24 for a closed-door stakeholder
lunch hosted by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and Cruise Iceland, addressing
the growing strain between Iceland’s shifting tax and regulatory environment and an industry
that plans years in advance.
Opening the discussion, Hans Chen Braas, CLIA Regional Director for the Nordics & Baltics,
pointed to Skagen, Denmark, and Stavanger, Norway, as examples of destinations that have
grown cruise tourism successfully through close municipal collaboration, and warned that short-
notice fee and regulatory changes risk undermining Iceland’s standing as a reliable destination.
New data presented at the event underscored how deeply cruise tourism is woven into smaller
Icelandic communities. According to Cruise Iceland data Sigurður Jökull Ólafsson presented,
the industry generated 1,184 ship calls and welcomed 333,394 unique passengers across 34
ports in 2025. Contributing with ISK 6,9 billion to support vital Icelandic infrastructure via port
fees and infrastructure taxes. Payment data from Teya, presented by Arnar Sveinn Geirsson,
showed that cruise passenger spending on peak days can exceed 800% of a town’s resident
population in smaller ports such as Djúpivogur, with more than half of Ísafjörður’s summer
foreign card spend tied directly to cruise visits.
Despite this, industry representatives noted that Iceland is currently the only cruise destination
in the world seeing a decline in bookings, a trend linked to recent VAT changes on domestic
voyages, implementation of the infrastructure fee in 2024 and uncertainty regarding the customs
exemption on circumnavigation between 2023 and 2025. Cruise line representatives Jonathan
Hawkings from Royal Caribbean and Lyall Duncan from Windstar Cruises described Iceland's
regulatory process as among the most complex they encounter globally, and urged greater
advance notice and consultation ahead of future policy changes.
Jón Auðun Auðunarson from West Travel highlighted how dependent some communities have
become on cruise traffic, with the Westfjords region drawing an estimated 95% of its visitors
from cruise ships. Gunnar Tryggvason from Faxaflóahafnir and Pálmi Jóhannsson from
Grundarfjörður echoed calls for more dialogue and longer adjustment periods before new fees
take effect.
Members of Parliament Njáll Trausti Friðbertsson and Ingvar Þóroddsson joined the
conversation to discuss tourism’s broader economic role, noting that the sector now accounts
for 12–13% of Iceland’s tax revenue and 42% of its foreign currency earnings. While they
disagreed on the direction of taxation policy, they shared recognition of the need for better-
coordinated rules and clearer government signaling on upcoming changes.
Closing the event, Hans Chen Braas reaffirmed cruise tourism's positive contribution to rural
Iceland and called for continued consultation and a more unified approach between
government, municipalities and industry going forward.
Photos from the event can be accessed here