Iceland’s Leading Tour Operator Engages Travelers with Playful Combination of Unique Nature, Colorful Folklore and the Selfie

(TRAVPR.COM) ICELAND - January 23rd, 2014 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Iceland Travel Launches New Elf-Inspired Photo Sharing with the #ElfieSelfie™

Iceland’s Leading Tour Operator Engages Travelers with Playful Combination of Unique Nature, Colorful Folklore and the Selfie

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND (January 23, 2014) – Iceland Travel, the country’s leading Tour Operator, is taking the “selfie” photo sharing phenomenon to an otherworldly level , by launching #ElfieSelfie™, a new way for travelers to discover Iceland’s extraordinary nature and distinctive elfin folklore.  Suggested #ElfieSelfie™ sites including troll-shaped lava formations and miniature painted elf houses are being provided on the company’s wide selection of online tours.

 “It’s an undeniable fact that photo sharing is an essential part of the travel experience here in photogenic Iceland,” says Jakobina Gudmundsdottir, Iceland Travel’s Sales and Marketing Manager for North America. “We’re updating our existing itineraries with entertaining facts and through social media engaging visitors whom are often fascinated by our elf mythology which also manifests itself in nature.”

Gudmundsdottir is referring to the Viking-age belief in “hidden people” which includes elves, trolls, fairies and supernatural beings believed to be living in the lava. Bizarre rock formations scattered throughout Iceland were explained in folktales as trolls turned into stone after being caught in the daylight.  Despite today’s modern digital age, surveys reveal that more than half of Icelanders do not deny the existence of elves and are known to pay respect to their invisible neighbors by re-routing highway projects to avoid disturbing rocks where elves supposedly live.

Liz Gammon, Manager of Shore Excursions and Cruise Services at Iceland Travel, recently consulted local elf experts while developing a cruise industry event and offers advice on being mindful of local tradition, “Elves are considered harmless creatures unless provoked.” Gammon, innovator of the creative hashtag moniker continues, “Visitors to Iceland are going to delight in searching for and sharing #ElfieSelfie™ sites. However the intent isn’t to disrespect elfin culture in any way, but rather to celebrate it.”

Jakobina Gudmundsdottir  contemplates on Icelandic elf folklore by saying, “When your ears are filled with the sounds of creaking glaciers, exploding geysers, and thundering waterfalls and your vision is full of black sand beaches, ghostly ice formations, steamy hot springs and the dancing Northern Lights, perhaps it’s not too difficult to imagine supernatural creatures walking about.” Gudmundsdottir goes on to say, “I think if elves were going to live anywhere, they’d live in Iceland. The landscape is so strangely beautiful; they’d fit right in.”

While the publishers of Oxford Dictionaries named “selfie” the word of the year and it is the digital fad no one appears able to resist, the launch of #ElfieSelfie™ seems well-timed. Beginning this summer, travelers to Iceland are encouraged to tag photos on Instagram and Twitter with the aptly named hashtag for posting on Iceland Travel’s dedicated #ElfieSelfie™ page:  http://www.icelandtravel.is/elfieselfie/ 

Iceland Travel

Iceland Travel is Iceland’s largest and longest running tour operator, assisting over 85,000 visitors each year. The diverse product portfolio includes an exciting array of guided, city-break, self-drive, luxury and stopover packages.

Travel Trade: touroperator.icelandtravel.is

Consumer: www.icelandtravel.is

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Media Contact:

Sif Gustavsson

Consultelligence

Tel: 917-484-1814

Email: sifg@icelandtravel.is

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