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Watch an audio slideshow of how traditional Icelandic rhubarb stew is made. Rhubarb is one of the few vegetables that grows effortlessly in Iceland and for that reason it used to be a highly-valued addition to the traditional diet of fish and lamb.
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The increase in the number of tourists in the month of February from year to year is roughly 22.1 percent; since 2003 the number of tourists has gone up by 50 percent. In these nine years, the Icelandic Tourist Board has kept track of the number of tourists passing through Keflavík International Airport, the growth in the month of February from year to year has increased by 9.4 percent.
The largest individual group by nationality to visit Iceland in February 2012 came from the U.K., or 37.7 percent out of the total number of visitors. The second largest group came from the United States with 13.9 percent, followed by Norway with 7.0 percent, Denmark with 5.5 percent, France with 4.8 percent, Germany and Japan with 3.9 percent, and Sweden and Holland with 3.7 percent.
The increase in tourists from the U.K. from year to year is roughly 50 percent, from North America 28,4 percent, and the same can be said about countries categorized under others with roughly 20 percent. The number of Scandinavians remains the same, and slightly fewer tourists came from Central and Southern Europe.
Since January 1, the number of tourists departing from Keflavík International Airport has already reached 54,000, or a 20 percent increase. Thereof a 51 percent increase among British travelers, 29.7 percent increase among North American tourists, and approximately a quarter more from countries categorized as other.
The numbers of Scandinavians and tourists from Central and Southern Europe have decreased slightly. The number of Icelanders traveling abroad exceeded that of the same time last by 1,700.
21,242 Icelanders traveled overseas in the month of February up from 19,000 last year, or an increase of 8.3 percent. Since the beginning of the New Year, just under 45,000 Icelanders traveled overseas, or 2,250 more than in the same period in 2011, when 42,000 Icelanders traveled abroad. The numbers are up by 5.3 percent, mbl.is recently reported.
JB
The 2013 Reykjavík International Children’s Film Festival opens at the cinema Bíó Paradís on Hverfisgata in downtown Reykjavík on May 29.
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The exchange of power in Iceland took place yesterday when the government of Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson formally took over from that of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and ministers exchange keys.
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Mountaineer Leifur Örn Svavarsson became the first Icelander to reach the peak of Everest, the world’s highest mountain, by the North Face from Tibet just before sunrise yesterday morning.
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Iceland’s new government formally took power today following a state council meeting at Bessastaðir, the presidential residence.
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The 2013 April-May issue of Iceland Review & Atlantica has been released. Packed with informative and entertaining stories, highlights include an interview with outgoing Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and the people who know her best, a photo essay of ice caves in Europe’s largest glacier and a colorful feature on life in the West Fjords.
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REVIEWS
Interwined at the Einar Jónsson Museum is a group exhibition by the first Master students (Class of 2014) from the Iceland Academy of the Arts. The site-specific 21st century artworks delightfully freshen up the interior in the home and studio of the famous 20th century Icelandic sculptor.
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Artist couple Nína Ivanova and Ómar Smári Kristinsson explain why they decided to settle in the West Fjords’ capital.
Reykjavík Queer Choir’s annual spring concert takes place on Friday, May 24.
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