Over half of all tourists from UK or US

Winter travel to Iceland appears to be appealing to quite a specific demographic, with over half of all tourists in Iceland last month either from the United Kingdom or the United States.

77,500 passengers passed through Keflavík International Airport (KEF), up 23.6% on the same month in 2015, according to figures from the Icelandic Tourist Board.

Just ten nationalities made up 78% of all tourists visiting Iceland last month. The Brits were away out ahead at 35.5%, followed by the Americans at 18.6%. Then come visitors from China (4.3%), Germany (4.2%), France (3.2%), Denmark (2.7%), Norway (2.5%), Jap­an­ (2.3%), Sweden (2.2%) and Canada (2,0%).

This means that over half – 54% – of all visitors to Iceland last month were from either the US or the UK. The Brits were also the group that saw the largest increase in numbers – 5,835 more than in January 2015. Tourists from the UK, US and China accounted for over 80% of the total year-on-year increase.

Outward tourism is also on the up, according to the ITB data. Some 30,000 Icelanders flew out of the country last month, a figure 11.1% higher than in the same month last year.