It is now clear that the summer of 2009 is the biggest tourism summer the municipality of Húnaþing vestra has ever seen. Most tourism companies report a large increase from last year, especially in June and August where the numbers are from 50 - 150%.

Traffic around Vatnsnes peninsula has been quite heavy this summer as thousands of people have gone seal watching and enjoyed the peninsula's beautiful landscapes. Foreign guests have increased relatively more but domestic tourist number also show quite an increase.

Visits to the Icelandic Seal Centre increased by 47% in August compared to last year, domestic tourists about 18% and foreign tourists 57%. The total increase of domestic tourists in the first 8 months of 2009 is 32% but 62 for foreign tourists. On the first of September our visitor had reached a total of 5804, but that is a 51% increase from last year. Income from entrance fees also increased around 90% between years.

Photo: The troll Hvítserkur is on of Vatnsnes peninsula's most popular attractions (Helgi Guðjónsson)