- The Faroe Islands launched a brand new tourism initiative that includes rental automobiles with built-in audio guides and shock itineraries to lesser-known places.
- This system goals to fight overtourism by directing vacationers away from crowded scorching spots and towards extra genuine, regionally beloved experiences.
- The self-guided journeys value round $103 per day and embrace curated routes and native storytelling.
In case you ever end up craving extra from a visit—one thing actual, one thing native, one thing past the guidebooks—don’t construct your itinerary across the normal “must-see” spots. In actual fact, in accordance with a 2024 McKinsey & Firm report, round 80 p.c of vacationers go to simply 10 p.c of worldwide points of interest—leaving a lot of the world untouched and unexplored.
It’s no completely different within the Faroe Islands, a Danish archipelago within the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and Norway. However within the Faroe Islands, they’re doing one thing attention-grabbing about it.
With the assistance of Google Maps, Go to Faroe Islands (the official tourism board) lately launched a fleet of rental automobiles with a built-in tour information. While you lease one in all these automobiles, you comply with comply with an itinerary that results in among the islands’ quieter, lesser-known corners—from roadside eateries to tiny villages tucked in spectacular fjords. The concept is to keep away from the crowds going to the following “must-see” web site and as an alternative encourage guests to expertise the islands’ lesser-touristed spots. While you lease the automotive, you comply with comply with the automotive’s step-by-step instructions, with no concept what the day’s locations shall be.
62N automotive rental
“Throughout the globe, vacationers collect across the similar iconic ‘scorching spots’, pushed by algorithms and social media that create a closed ecosystem the place photos from common locations appeal to much more individuals to these very places. The result’s overtourism—and predictable experiences,” Guðrið Højgaard, chief govt officer for Go to Faroe Islands, stated in a press launch obtained by Journey + Leisure. “Faroe Islands have skilled rising stress on chosen websites themselves, and now we try to reverse the circulation—fairly actually.”
After reserving with 62N automotive rental, a companion of Go to Faroe Islands, vacationers scan a QR code to activate turn-by-turn instructions that result in the day’s websites. Alongside the best way, native tales are shared.
Along with taking vacationers to regionally beloved locations, the itinerary helps disperse vacationers, who historically all head to a vacation spot’s “prime three websites.” It’s a first-of-its-kind strategy to curbing overtourism, whereas giving vacationers experiences they crave—these which might be regionally pushed, genuine, and void of crowds.
“We got down to discover how know-how and creativity might supply a brand new manner for vacationers to find the Faroes—one which leads them into locations they may by no means discover on their very own,” stated Højgaard. “It is a extra considerate sort of journey, designed to each shield what’s most beloved and reveal spots typically neglected. With this initiative, we hope to steer by instance, demonstrating how locations can embrace innovation to unfold tourism extra responsibly and meaningfully.”
The 30 itineraries, which have been curated from a locals’ views, embrace actions like visiting a roadside fish-and-chip stand, a hike within the fjords, and a go to to historic websites set alongside Europe’s tallest sea cliffs.
The Faroe Islands’ self-navigating automobiles could be booked on the Faroe Islands’ tourism web site beginning July 8. Charges begin at round $103 a day and aren’t any dearer than a conventional rental automotive—although they embrace the price of the itinerary and audio information.