Icelandic hotels report bedbugs every three days

Bedbugs have been brought into 75 rooms at Icelandic hotels since January, according to data from Valpas, a Finnish company that provides hotel bedbug prevention and certification. The figures were reported by mbl.is.

Valpas’s system now covers 53 hotels in Iceland, nearly a third of the country’s hotels, the company says. The recorded cases amount to bedbugs arriving at a hotel covered by the system, on average, once every three days.

Valpas says the bugs were stopped on the first night in all 75 cases, before they could settle in and multiply. Bedbugs can hide in narrow spaces and survive for months, making an established infestation difficult to eliminate. They are often carried in luggage.

Martim Gois, Valpas’s chief executive and co-founder, said the company began operating in Iceland at the start of the year. Fifteen Icelandic hotels were certified in February; that number has since more than tripled to 53. Gois said the system had been adopted faster in Iceland than in other markets, partly because the hotel market is relatively small and operators have strong connections.

Bedbugs can travel between hotels

Travel patterns may also play a role, Gois said. Many visitors stay in several places while travelling around Iceland, allowing bedbugs carried in luggage to move between accommodation providers. He gave the example of a traveller arriving at Keflavík Airport, renting a car and staying at several hotels during a trip. If the traveller brings bedbugs, they could spread to each place.

Each case is recorded

The Valpas system uses specially designed bed legs that replace standard ones. If a bed has no legs, a device is installed beside it.

The devices are designed to attract and trap bedbugs as they move from luggage towards a bed. The aim is to catch a single insect before it can settle in and reproduce in the room. Gois said the system focuses on prevention rather than responding after an infestation takes hold.

When a pest is found, hotel staff photograph it and record the case in Valpas’s system. Gois said the company can then track the cases caught by the devices. The rate in Iceland is calculated based on the number of rooms covered, how long they have been using the system and the number of recorded cases.

Hotels face changing market conditions

Gois said higher costs and uncertainty over changes to tourism taxation are putting pressure on hotel operators. It can be difficult to pass cost increases on to customers immediately, so operators are looking for ways to strengthen their competitiveness.

Discussion of bedbugs has long been sensitive in the hotel industry, he said, but attitudes are changing. Travellers are more aware of the issue, seek information before booking and may inspect beds and mattresses when they arrive.

Gois expects information about bedbug prevention to become a standard part of online hotel bookings. He compared the shift with smoke-free rooms, wireless internet and sustainability certifications, which have become details travellers expect to see.