Residents’ attitudes towards tourists and tourism in the time of COVID-19

A case study of residents’ attitudes towards tourists and tourism in the time of COVID-19. The aim of the study is to analyze the effect of the reduction in the number of foreign tourists due to the pandemic on the attitudes of locals towards tourism. The study is carried out for the Icelandic Tourist Board.

The case study takes place in four communities in Iceland: 101 Reykjavík (city centre), Ísafjörður, Skútustaðahreppur and Höfn in Hornafjörður. The project is intended to analyze the impact of the collapse of the tourism industry and its changed working environment on residents’ attitudes towards the industry, how the locals experience these changes and whether the changes have had a measurable effect on attitudes towards tourists and tourism. In this context we will look at the results from previous studies on tourism impact on residents that have been carried out in these four communities.

Four reports were published in October 2021, see links below, and on the Icelandic Tourist Board's website.

 

Project manager: Eyrún Jenný Bjarnadóttir [ejb@rmf.is]