Iceland Steals the Scene in Mitty Film

It’s almost as if Ben Stiller got in the way of a beautiful postcard from Iceland. The reviews for "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" have been tepid at best.

The one silver-screen lining that almost every reviewer escapes to in looking for something to praise in the film is the extraordinary beauty of the Icelandic locations it was shot in. The rugged landscapes were able to stand in for the Himalayas and the coast of Greenland as well.

Taking a page out of New Zealand’s J.R. Tolkien playbook, Icelandair is selling a six-night "Walter Mitty" Iceland Adventure and running an image of Ben Stiller trekking across a majestic slice of scenery. The package goes setting by setting through the locations used in the movie.

Most U.S. visitors to Iceland pursue a slightly different set of interests and locations in the country.

“Most of our U.S. clients spend about a week, while Europeans usually spend two weeks,” said Atli Gudmundsson, the manager-owner of All Iceland.

“Americans usually make daytrips to the south of the island to what we call the Golden Circle with its national parks. The geysers, waterfalls and the Blue Lagoon are very popular and of course when the nights come most visitors look for the Northern Lights.”

According to Professor Edward H. Huijbens, the University of Akureyri’s director of the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre, the U.S. is the largest market for Iceland.

“The total number of those that visited Iceland according to the Icelandic Tourist Board count in 2013 is 739,328 (through November), but the month of December is missing. Estimating some 45,000 (for December), we have 784,328 (total visitors).

“That would represent a 21 percent increase from the year before and that is similar to the growth in visitor numbers we have seen from 2010 to 2011 and 2011 to 2012. If this continues unabated for a few more years, it is quite clear we will need imported labor to cope.”

Between 2002 when 277,900 visitors arrived in Iceland to 2012 (the last full year counted) when 672,000 visited, the numbers have shown a steady upward trajectory.

It seems that Iceland is finally getting its due as a comprehensive tourism destination and not just a stopover or the home of the flight disrupting Eyjafjallajokul Volcano.

The larger trend shows that winter travel is not just for skiers anymore. The trend has been on a steady climb since travelers began exploring Antarctica decades ago and has continued with several winter destinations.