Exploding Growth of Iceland Tourism Creates Sizable & Odd Challenge

Foreigners full of excitement — and excrement.

Ali Shearman
4 min readFeb 16, 2018
Iceland — August 2017. Photo by Ali Shearman.

Iceland is a destination that millions of people are excited about. Nearly every traveler has been recently, is going soon, or wants to go. Why? Stunning images of its landscape are all over social media and television. The country is one of the main shooting locations of the incredibly popular show Game of Thrones.

In addition to this essentially free advertising, Icelandic airlines offer super cheap flights and layover options between Europe and the USA — which encourage people with a wide array of travel budgets to book a trip there.

The problem? People with small travel budgets show up expecting a cheap trip but are shocked by the outrageous prices on everything. As a result, those people try anything they can to save a buck.

Iceland — July 2017. Photo by Ali Shearman.

Iceland is actively inviting tourists in but is failing to provide amenities.

When the tourists aren’t accommodated, they are blamed for what ensues. The main culprit is a lack of restrooms. With nowhere to…

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