Iceland faces new challenge, 10 years on

Slowdown: A tourist in the popular Blue Lagoon. While the number of visitors rose nearly 40pc in 2016, the increase was only 24pc in 2017

Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir and Nick Rigillo

Just as Iceland looks back at a decade of recovery since its financial and economic collapse, it is once again grappling with an existential challenge for one of its key industries.

Tourism and the foreign cash it provides was instrumental in digging the 340,000-person nation out of its deep hole. Now, the industry is cooling fast and problems are mounting for its airlines after years of rapid expansion.