Ode to Alda

• Published in: Marketing Theory
• Main Author: Thyroff, Anastasia
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2019
• Subjects: Marketing; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1470593119897774; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1470593119897774; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/1470593119897774

Iceland, with a small population of approximately 340,000, is a mostly uninhabited island complete with waterfalls, geysers, fjords, black-sand beaches, volcanos, sheep, and horses. The original Viking settlers did not have a native population or large predators to battle in Iceland upon arrival but quickly became attuned to ancient magic and the Huldufólk (hidden people) concealed in the natural features of the island. The natural elements combined with geographic isolation makes Iceland ripe with untouched beauty and deep-rooted cultural myths—ones that modern tourists eagerly share on social media, perpetuating the tourism demand. Now, once a traditional fishing economy, Iceland’s tourism economy dominates, seeing an increase of 20–30 percent in visitors each year since 2010. On any given year, tourists far outnumber Icelanders nearly six-to-one. These are the tales of the tourism assemblages and tensions surrounding Alda, a resident of the remote Westfjords in Iceland.