American explorer Scott Parazynski was awarded the Leif Erikson Exploration Award earlier this evening during the final night of the Explorers Festival in Húsavík. As a veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks, and as the only astronaut to have summited Mt. Everest, Parazynski is awarded the …
Icelandair began a new year-round service from Chicago O’Hare International Airport today, with four weekly round-trips to Iceland on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with connections to more than 20 destinations in Europe. The airline will operate a Boeing 767 on the route instead of a B757 as originally …
Promote Iceland has launched a new project called Iceland Academy, a web-based introduction to increase awareness of and interest in Iceland as a destination with emphasis on responsible conduct by tourists, their safety and pleasure. The campaign teaches tourists about Icelandic culture, traditions and nature with mini-classes on the …
The Húsavík Whale Museum was reopened earlier this week after being closed most of this winter for renovation and installation of a new exhibit. The highlight of the reopening celebration was the unveiling of the newest exhibit, a Blue Whale skeleton. In 2010, the Blue Whale was found beached …
WOW air is expanding its presence in Icelandic tourism market with plans to build a new hotel in Kópavogur, just south of the capital Reykjavík. The airline, which was founded in 2011, describes itself as “the airline with the biggest smile and lowest prices”. Currently serving 23 destinations in …
Ten startups from around Iceland have been selected to participate in the Icelandic business accelerator Startup Tourism. Startup Tourism is a mentorship-driven business accelerator for Icelandic companies in the tourism sector. The ten companies were selected from 74 applicants, to take part in a 10 week program in Reykjavík, …
Whale watching operator North Sailing in Húsavík is among the 15 Finalists shortlisted for the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards in 2016, as announced by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) recently. These annual awards are among the highest accolades in the industry and represent the gold standard in …
Skúlagarður Country Hotel in North Iceland will open a new guesthouse this summer. The hotel now offers 17 rooms with private bathrooms. “The new guesthouse has 30 rooms with shared facilities and will start operation in in June. Our aim is to offer budget accommodation in this area,” says …
50 years ago today, a new island was born, off the southern coast of Iceland. The new island was named Surtsey, after Surtr, a fire jötunn or giant from Norse mythology. It was intensively studied by volcanologists during its eruption, and afterwards by botanists and biologists as life forms …
For the past few weeks, Icelanders have been voting online for the most beautiful word of their language. The results were announced tonight. The Icelandic word for a midwife, Ljósmóðir, was voted the most beautiful. When translated to English, the word literally means “mother of light”. Other words that …
