Iceland has reinstated the tax tourists pay for hotel and alternative accommodation rooms this year. In another change, the tax will also apply to cruises.
20.12.2023 - 00:58 / skift.com / Sky Lagoon / Dawit Habtemariam / Yves Marceau
As Iceland’s volcano erupts, tour operators are using Sky Lagoon as an alternative to Blue Lagoon for group trips.
“When the whole situation with the volcano started, we replaced it with the Sky Lagoon,” said Kristijan Svajnzger, operations manager for Eastern Europe at Intrepid Travel.
Blue Lagoon — one of Iceland’s most popular tourist attractions — is closed through December 27. The geothermal spa partially reopened on Sunday. Before then, it had been closed since November 9 due to earthquakes caused by the volcano.
Tour operators reserved spots at Sky Lagoon in advance to minimize itinerary disruption. Sky is located closer to Reykjavik and farther from the eruption.
“We have already updated the itineraries and moved from Blue Lagoon to Sky Lagoon,” said Meghan Flynn, associate vice president of strategy at Road Scholar, another tour operator.
Some tour operators like G Adventures already include Sky Lagoon in their itineraries. Travelers could book Blue Lagoon upon request, said Yves Marceau, vice president of product. G Adventures will cancel and refund travelers who booked stops at Blue Lagoon.
“It’s going to be hard for travel companies who didn’t seek alternatives to the Blue Lagoon to find something at this point,” said Road Scholar’s Flynn.
Iceland has reinstated the tax tourists pay for hotel and alternative accommodation rooms this year. In another change, the tax will also apply to cruises.
Blue Lagoon Iceland will partially reopen its spa on Saturday, January 6, it said in a statement Friday.
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