Minister backs access fee for Slættaratind

Kringvarp Føroya reports that Foreign Minister Jacob Vestergaard supports charging foreign tourists a 200-kroner access fee to walk on Slættaratind, a Faroese nature destination.

“Of course tourists should pay to experience Faroese nature,” Vestergaard, the minister for business affairs, said. He said he saw nothing wrong with charging visitors to experience nature and other tourist destinations in the Faroe Islands.

Two signs have been put up directing foreign tourists to a website where they can pay the fee. According to Frihedsbrevet, the charge was introduced by the approximately 30 families who own the grazing land.

The chairman of the local grazing-land management body said the terrain had suffered significant wear. He said the money would, among other things, be used for a path, toilets, water and electricity. Without the revenue, access to Slættaratind might have to be closed, he said.