Faroe Islands tourism chief warns visitor numbers will not recover on their own

Visitor numbers to the Faroe Islands have stalled for the third consecutive year, with international marketing budgets cut by a third, the director of Visit Faroe Islands told national broadcaster Kringvarp Føroya.

Guðrið Højgaard, head of the tourism agency, said the decline in overseas promotion has directly reduced the islands’ visibility. “The reason visitor numbers have stagnated is that international exposure—our marketing efforts—has dropped by a third, and that is clearly visible in the results,” she stated.

Funding for Visit Faroe Islands has been reduced by three allocations since 2020, with no inflation adjustment since 2013, when the budget was last increased. Højgaard emphasised that global competition for tourists is fierce, adding: “We can only confirm that visitors will not come by themselves.”

While total visitor numbers have flatlined, those who do travel to the Faroes are spending significantly more per trip, the agency’s 2025 annual report noted.