Iceland Tourism

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Dec 6, 2023

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GEO2400: Human Geography Writing Assignment: Are You Following Me? The Role of Influencers in Tourism Traveling is my passion, but I must balance my desire to see the world with an understanding that tourism is not always beneficial to the places I am visiting. Inflated housing prices, overcrowding, pollution, loss of habitat, and unequal reinvestment in communities are all outcomes of the travel industry, yet many countries turn to tourism as a strategy for economic development. With many places ignoring all the negative consequences associated with the travel industry, it falls on us to think critically about our actions. A trend in travel is the rise of influencers on social media. What is an influencer? It is a person who makes money through sponsorships by promoting a product, or a place to their followers by describing it in positive terms. Platforms, such as Instagram, have created search options that allow users to follow specific hashtags, so it becomes a valuable research tool when preparing for a trip. Some people estimate that the average influencer makes between $10 and $80 per 1,000 followers per post on Instagram, so it can be a lucrative business for some people (Chang, 2019). Many argue that this trend is here to stay, because more than 3 billion people will have access to social media by 2022. That means developing partnerships between travel agencies and influencers will be an important strategy to grow businesses. Indeed, Forbes Magazine recognizes the potential and releases annual lists of the most influential influencers across many different topics, including travel. Because influencers are making money with their accounts, they try to be trendy and unique to attract more followers with the idea that the followers interact with advertisements that generate income for the account owner. This has a direct impact on places, as we will see in this assignment, because if influencers have a large following, they can determine the popularity of a new travel destination. One such place is the European country of Iceland. Iceland is a young island (only about 15 million years old) located in the North Atlantic between Greenland and Norway. The landscape of much of the island is shaped by the presence of volcanoes and glaciers, so it creates many fragile ecosystems with unique plants and animals. Additionally, it allows scientists to study how new landforms are colonized by plants and animals. Because of the volcanic activity, there are many beautiful mountains, beaches, and waterfalls. Vikings settled on the island in the 800s and established the world’s oldest continuous parliament. Today, the population of the country is below 400,000 people, with most Icelanders living around the capital city, Reykjavik. Icelanders enjoys high standards of living compared to the rest of the world and work hard to preserve their culture and their unique landscape. Instructions In this assignment, you are going to use the country of Iceland as a case study to understand some of the outcomes that come from the presence of influencers in the travel industry. Not only that, but I want to give you some experience with qualitative data collection. For you to be successful with this assignment, 1 Picture 1. Influencers use social platforms like Instagram to display the perfect shot. It has changed how people travel because people want to recreate these scenes.
I think it will be useful to approach this assignment in a particular order. I would recommend reading through the questions before you begin, so you have an idea what to look for. Step 1: You are going to begin with "I'll Show You", by Justin Bieber. This song was released in 2015 and is widely credited with inspiring travel to Iceland. Some people also suggest that some of the behaviors seen in the video are dangerous and disrespectful to Iceland’s unique landscape and people, including standing on the edge of a cliff, and being in the river in only his undergarments. While you’re watching the video, identify three things, or characteristics, that make Iceland appealing to travelers (Question 1). Map 1 provides the names of the locations featured in the music video except for Sólheimasandur Beach where the wreckage of the plane can be seen. Reykjavik is the capital city. Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss are waterfalls. Dyrhólaey is a massive (and terrifying) cliff. Fjaðrárgljúfur is a canyon. Jökulsárlón is a bay filled with icebergs from a nearby glacier. Map 1. Locations in “I’ll Show You” Step 2: You are going to examine the tourism statistics in Table 1 to understand the changes that have occurred in Iceland over the last few years. The table shows the number of international visitors who spend at least one night in Iceland, followed by the amount of money generated by the tourists. Finally, the table displays how much of the Icelandic economy relies on tourist dollars. Table 1. Tourism Statistics for Iceland (Source: UN World Tourism Organization) Year Number of International Visitors Total Annual Revenue ($) Percent of Total Gross Domestic Product* 2011 560,000 $750,000,000 3.6% 2013 870,000 $1,100,000,000 4.6% 2015 1,255,000 $1,650,000,000 6.1% 2
2017 2,225,000 $3,024,000,000 8.6% 2019 2,005,000 $2,745,000,000 8.4% *This is a measure of the direct contribution of international visitors to the national economy. It is the total amount of expenditures (things like hotels, car rentals, transportation into the country) of international visitors as a percentage of the total economic value of Iceland. Step 3: As you can see from Table 1, there was a large increase in the number of visitors after the release of the music video in 2015. Justin Bieber is an easy target when it comes to understanding destructive behaviors in tourism, because of his actions in the music video. Read through the following articles to understand some of the negative outcomes of tourism in Iceland: An article from the Independent in the UK. An article from the BBC in the UK. An article from CNN in the US. An article from Reykjavik Grapevine in Iceland. Facebook group about bad tourists in Iceland. Step 4: Now it is time to collect some data. You are going to use Instagram to fill in Table 3. You will begin by using the search bar and typing in Iceland. The default option should be set to show the tab called “Top”. These are photos that are either promoted, or highly engaged with by other users (see left side of image below). The other tab you will use for this assignment is “Tags” and you will select #iceland (see right side of image below). In each tab you will scan the first 103 photos (that is 33 rows). You will look for: waterfalls, black sand beaches, mountains, volcanoes, cities, and other scenes that don’t fit into those categories. Additionally, you will document if you see an influencer and/or bad behavior. Bad behavior is up to you define but consider using the information you saw in the articles in the previous step. 3
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Questions 1. After watching “I’ll Show You”, by Justin Bieber: a. Identify three things, or characteristics, of Iceland that you find appealing. - The tall, beautiful waterfall that is shown throughout the video. - All the glaciers in the water near the end of the video. - At 1:14 there was a clip of these two cliffs with a river flowing between them. b. Explain how you think the selected characteristics could be used by influencers to attract people to Iceland. - In the beginning he was walking on the edge of the cliff and in the end, he went swimming in the water with all the glaciers. This could have inspired/influenced people to want to take more risks and participate in more adventurous activities. A lot of times when celebrities do things like this, fans will want to “recreate” what they are doing. 2. The number of tourists staying in Iceland has grown tremendously since 2015. Using the calculator found here, (initial value is the earlier year) calculate the percent change in international visitors and annual revenue. Report your numbers here: Table 2. Percent Change in Icelandic Tourism Statistics Time frame % change in visitors % change in revenue 2015-2017 77.2908% 83.2727% 4
2011-2019 258.0357% 266% 3. Table 3 contains the two tabs as row names and eight column names. The first six column names are characteristics you will see in the photos, while the last two column names are for the presence of an influencer, or the presence of bad behavior. a. While you are scanning the first 103 photos in each tab, please document each time you see the characteristics across the top by selecting one of the first six characteristics per photo. For example, if after scanning all 103 photos in the Top tab you found 45 waterfalls, then you would add 45 to the cell where waterfalls and Top intersect. In some cases, you will notice that there is an influencer and/or bad behavior. When that is the case, make an additional mark under the appropriate column name. For example, if you see a photo in the Top tab that has an influencer and a waterfall, you will add 1 to each of those cells. Table 3. The Top Travel Influencers Instagram Tab Waterfalls Black Sand Beach Mountain s Volcanoes City Other Scenes Influence r Bad Behavior Top 38 26 42 11 6 32 10 1 Tags 26 49 3 18 11 7 2 4. Without knowing it, you just engaged in qualitative data collection. You watched a video and identified three characteristics that were appealing, then you used Instagram to collect data from photos. a. Were the three characteristics you described from question 1 present in your data collection for Table 3? Yes, they were. There were plenty of waterfalls in both the top page and the tags. Additionally, there were a lot of glaciers and mountains with rivers. b. Briefly discuss some of the most disturbing events to come from the articles in step three. One of the things I found the most interesting was a post on the Facebook page of a bunch of children getting hit by a wave on a black sand beach. This specifically caught my eye since I have been to Iceland before and visited a black sand beach. There was a large caution sign before entering which basically told us how the beach has “sneaker waves”. These are surprise waves that will happen which will engulf people who are standing to close to the water. This is very scary since the water gets very deep very fast so there have been instances before where people have drowned. I made sure to enjoy the beauty of this site from a far due to the risk. c. Based on your data, is it fair to place blame on influencers for the problems in Iceland? Explain. Be sure to justify your response with evidence from Table 3. I think they do certainly deserve partial blame for their actions. Their job as influencers is to influence people which can be great if used appropriately. However, when you’re standing at the edge of a cliff or standing to close to the water then it will influence other people to do that which is not good. For example, all the bad behaviors from Table 3 came from influencers. 5. In addition to Justin Bieber’s music video, several other influences appeared that help draw people to Iceland. A discount airline called WoW offered flights for as low as $140 roundtrip between North America and Iceland. Game of Thrones began filming in several locations across Iceland. 5
a. Many people argue that countries should not rely on tourism as a major development strategy for their economies. Do you agree with this (Hint: the tourism statistics may be useful)? b. Why, or why not? While tourism can be a wonderful thing for the economy, I think it is important to not rely on it too much. Due to certain statistics, the numbers can be very fluctuating which demonstrates it is not always reliable. Update on Iceland: WoW Air collapsed, Game of Thrones has stopped filming, Justin Bieber has stopped being popular in Iceland, and post-Covid tourism statistics have dropped to pre-2012 levels. c. What can Iceland do to minimize the negative outcomes of tourism? Having visited Iceland in my life, I think it is important to be very cautious when visiting there. It is a country like no other and has many beautiful sights however, too many people are taking risks and are being careless with the nature. By having more safety precautions, such as a gate or railing around the edge of a cliff, could potentially help in minimizing negative outcomes within tourism. Or somehow reaching out to influencers and telling them to be careful with the things they post about the nature. Sources https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/alexander-tikhomirov-travel-influencer- instagram-land-cruiser-iceland-fine-a8943056.html https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48703462 https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/lifestyle/travel/instagram-travel-influencers/ https://www.forbes.com/top-influencers/2017/travel/#3ec53afa6d04 https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/travel-influencers/index.html https://www.fodors.com/worlds-best/influencers https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Technology/social-media-influencers https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/iceland-canyon-closing-overtourism-justin-bieber/index.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfGaX8G0f2E&feature=youtu.be 6
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