My Reflection

My personal reflection of Iceland will be that there should be a balance amidst tourism developments between the culture and its people. I assume that after the initiative by the government to attract more visitors to the country, there will be more visitors, therefore resulting in an even quicker tourism developments in Iceland to cater to the demand.

I feel that tourism should work both ways. Tourism can encourage the locals to showcase their culture to the visitors, at the same time the locals should also emphasise on preserving their own unique culture and not be eroded or influenced by other people. As seen in Iceland, Reykjavik has been turning into a tourism hotspot. I feel that more efforts should be imposed to preserve the culture and image of the country such as promoting other parts of the country to strike a balance. Visitors will bring in tourism dollars for the country because of their authentic culture.

Having Americanised malls in Reykjavik is one thing, however the interests of the locals and the location should be taken care of as well. If Reykjavik is supposed to preserve the heritage of the whole country, I feel that it will not be that appropriate to build malls just to meet consumer(visitor) demands.

In the long run, as more tourists arrive and if there are still inadequate efforts imposed to preserve the culture, Icelandic culture will be lost forever.