Unmatched nature and Nordic society are among the reasons Chinese visitors are drawn to Iceland, RÚVreports. The majority are well informed middle-class people many of whom have never gone abroad before. The number of Chinese visitors at Keflavík Airport has increased more than fivefold over the past four years.
Chinese visitors are also among those visitors most satisfied with their trip to Iceland, according to a report from Gallop.
According to Hörður Unnsteinsson, who works in Norway at Tumlare Corporation, which sells Iceland and Norway trips to Chinese tourists, says that the number of Chinese tourists has increased significantly in all Nordic countries. Here they consider themselves sheltered from terrorism and close to nature.
“These are people who live maybe in Beijing or Shanghai, in mainland China, where there is heavy pollution in cities, and therefore it is a formidable experience to come here to Scandinavia and experience such clean and pristine nature such as what we can offer,” Hörður states.
Steingrímur Þorbjarnarson specializes in selling Icelandic trips to Chinese tourists. He agrees that they are drawn to Icelandic nature, but adds that it is not the only factor. “They have an idea of the Nordic countries as being futuristic societies, populated by people who are well-situated and who, to some extent, can be a model of how people who have come a long way can live in a social and economic sense. So they are looking for something like that, which they themselves should aim for,” states Steingrímur.
Watch some interviews with Chinese tourists in Iceland here.