Faroe Islands Launch Self-Guided Tour Vehicles

When 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 regular “must-see” spots. In reality, in response to a 2024 McKinsey & Firm report, round 80 p.c of vacationers go to simply 10 p.c of worldwide sights—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 fascinating about it.

With the assistance of Google Maps, Go to Faroe Islands (the official tourism board) not too long ago launched a fleet of rental vehicles with a built-in tour information. If you hire one in every of these automobiles, you conform to comply with an itinerary that results in a number of the islands’ quieter, lesser-known corners—from roadside eateries to tiny villages tucked in spectacular fjords. The thought is to keep away from the crowds going to the subsequent “must-see” web site and as an alternative encourage guests to expertise the islands’ lesser-touristed spots. If you hire the automobile, you conform to comply with the automobile’s step-by-step instructions, with no thought what the day’s locations can be.

“Throughout the globe, vacationers collect across the identical iconic ‘sizzling spots’, pushed by algorithms and social media that create a closed ecosystem the place photographs from widespread locations entice much more individuals to these very areas. The result’s overtourism—and predictable experiences,” Guðrið Højgaard, chief government officer for Go to Faroe Islands, mentioned 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 move—fairly actually.”

After reserving with 62N automobile 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 way in which, 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 “high three websites.” It’s a first-of-its-kind method 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 provide a brand new method for vacationers to find the Faroes—one which leads them into locations they may by no means discover on their very own,” mentioned Højgaard. “It is a extra considerate type of journey, designed to each shield what’s most beloved and reveal spots typically ignored. With this initiative, we hope to guide by instance, demonstrating how locations can embrace innovation to unfold tourism extra responsibly and meaningfully.” 

The 30 itineraries, which had 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 vehicles will be booked on the Faroe Islands’ tourism web site beginning July 8. Charges begin at round $103 a day and aren’t any costlier than a standard rental automobile—although they embrace the price of the itinerary and audio information.