It appears that there is more tourist travel in Iceland this year than last year.
mbl.is/Ómar Óskarsson
Car rental demand has significantly exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts this summer, and the average rental period is increasing. June was a very strong month, and there is little to suggest that July won’t follow suit. However, the autumn season remains somewhat uncertain, partly because tourists seem to be making travel decisions with shorter notice than before.
“The summer outlook is pretty good”
“The summer looks pretty good. There’s a slight increase in bookings compared to last year,” says Steingrímur Birgisson, CEO of Höldur–Bílaleiga Akureyrar (a major Icelandic car rental company).
Among the summer months, he says May was the only month where bookings were down from the previous year. In June, rentals increased, and the same appears to be true for July and August — assuming there are no sudden waves of cancellations.
Considerable market uncertainty
However, he says the outlook for autumn is less promising, with bookings well below last year’s levels.
“There’s a lot of fluctuation in the market and quite a bit of uncertainty. People are clearly making travel decisions later,” Birgisson says.
He adds that various factors contribute to this uncertainty — such as ongoing wars and statements from U.S. President Donald Trump regarding his trade policies. Additionally, discussions in Iceland about the possible introduction of a kilometer-based road tax may also be playing a role.
“There are many things that are potentially discouraging tourists from making early decisions,” he explains.
Looking at the year as a whole, Birgisson says it appears to be shaping up slightly better than 2023. “But there’s not much room for error — autumn needs to perform better for everything to hold up.”
Summer has surprised
Magnús Sverrir Thorsteinsson, CEO of Blue Car Rental, says this summer has exceeded expectations for his company as well.
“It’s been much better than we expected at the start — in fact, there’s been quite a solid increase from last year,” Thorsteinsson tells mbl.is.
Rental periods are getting longer
He also notes that not only have bookings increased, but the average rental period has also extended by several percent — something not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We haven’t seen much of an increase for September yet, but spring was fantastic, and June was basically the best we’ve ever had. You usually expect a lot from June, and it often ends up being a bit of a letdown — but this year, it was just very good.”
When asked about the outlook for autumn, he says it is still an “unwritten page.”
“It certainly won’t see the same kind of growth as most other months of the year compared to last year. I think it’ll be roughly on par.”