Iceland's tourism blues.
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Iceland's tourism blues.

by Mary Gagen, Swansea University, Great Britain

Iceland's Blue Lagoon was a clever response to an unplanned hiccup at the nearby geothermal power plant. Waste waters became rich in minerals, after the aquifer lens was penetrated, and these minerals started to clog up the drainage ponds making perfect swimming holes around the plant. Roll forwards to 2017 and each year 1.3 million of Iceland's 1.7 million tourists pay heavily to bathe at the Blue Lagoon complex. The site has become a focal point for discussions around how sustainable Iceland's tourist industry itself is. In a country of 330,000, 1.7 million is an awful lot of tourists.