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In the marketing of Iceland as a tourist destination, the country has
also been further divided into Reykjavík and the capital area, East-Iceland,
West-Iceland, South-Iceland, North-Iceland, The Westfjords, and The
Highlands. In general, though, Iceland has sought to “market itself as an
‘extreme’ and ‘different’ destination through the transformation of its
history, culture, and nature into elements of ‘magic’” (Gössling 2006, p.
122). As a “majestic country”, Iceland appears in books with titles such as:
“‘Lost in Iceland’, ‘Magic of Iceland’, ‘Wonders of Iceland’, ‘Colours of
Iceland’ or ‘Land of light’” (Gössling 2006, p. 122).
The re-make and re-modelling through tourism imaginationings
draw upon historical narration and myth. Horses are not only horses; they
are Icelandic horses, and even “Viking horses”. The local beer is named
“Viking”, the vodka “Eldurís” (Fire-ice) and “danger signs in many places
enforce the notion of adventure and remnants of extreme events remind of
the forces of nature” (Gössling 2006, p. 122). Even the hidden people are
becoming suitable enough to be loaded with a high profile tourism
exchange value. What else might there be besides the traditional mixture of
nature and culture that could put a nation on the map of tourist
destinations? Björk might not be considered an elf (or hidden person), but
as potential tourism exchange value she is a point in case:
When is an elf bigger than a nation? And if your’re the nation, what to
do about it? In Iceland’s case, the answer seems to be: appreciate her
[Björk] and ignore her (The New York Times, October 25, 2001).
A general pattern in contemporary tourism pro-motional material of
Iceland, identified by Gössling, is that of “exploration and adventure
elements” (Gössling 2006, p. 122). And why not? Some people “still
believe that the Icelanders, or some other people from among the northern
nations, once sailed to the American shores prior to the voyages of
Columbus” (Miles 1852, in Boucher, 1989, p. 17). About 50 years later, in
2005, the president of Iceland enumerated 13 national characteristics to
explain Icelanders success in finance:
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