Reykjavík (TAN): “Welcome to Iceland. Drinks are on us,” says the tagline of Iceland’s newest tourism campaign.
In a bid to reduce plastic waste generated by tourists, the country has given its tap water luxury branding. The advertising campaign by Iceland’s official tourism board, Inspired by Iceland, encourages tourists to drink ‘Kranavatn’, Icelandic for tap water.
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The campaign came in the wake of a survey that revealed 65 per cent travellers drank more bottled water on vacation than they did at home. Most of the respondents admitted to doing it because of concerns that tap water at their holiday destination was unsafe, a practice that led to 80 per cent of all plastic bottles ending up in landfills or the ocean. Iceland, therefore, challenged its visitors to ditch water that came packaged in single-use plastic bottles, and drink straight from the tap instead.
The campaign also asked visitors to sign up for the Kranavatn challenge online – so that they pledge to drink tap water during their stay in Iceland, and thereby help in cutting down plastic from the environment.
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However, since many tourists prefer bottled water over tap water over safety issues, the campaign pushed for kranavatn by saying the “pure springwater” has been “naturally filtered through lava for centuries” before reaching the tap. It also called kranavatn “the greatest drink in the world” which is available everywhere in the country for free.
