Iceland tourism is soaring; up 20 percent in 2012

The Icelandic Tourist Board has reported that 618,901 foreign travellers have visited Iceland so far in 2012, which represents 99K more tourists than in the same time period last year, or a 19.1 percent increase.

British tourists top the list, representing 27.7% of the total number of tourists, followed by Americans (17.4%), Norwegians (8.3%), Swedes (5.8%), Germans (5.2%), Danes (4.9%) and the French (4.1%).

CNN: Foreign visitors increased by 15.9% last year whilst travel now accounts for 5.9% of GDP…by 2020 Iceland’s president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson says he hopes this [tourists] figure will be nearer two million, almost seven times the country’s population.