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Chinese tycoon eyes Icelandic wilderness resort
A real estate investor and former Chinese government official is reported to have struck a provisional deal to acquire 300 square kilometres of wilderness in north-east Iceland where he plans to build an eco-tourism resort and golf course.
Huang Nubo, a nature-lover, says he wants to spend US$100 million on the project that will target wealthy visitors from Asia.
The Icelandic government is studying the proposal which would embrace 0.3% of the country’s landmass.
Huang’s company, Zhongkun Group, owns resorts and tourist facilities across China. He describes himself as a poet and adventurer, having climbed Mount Everest and reached the North and South Poles.
TravelMole’s sustainable tourism expert Valere Tjolle says, “There is no reason why China shouldn’t take a real interest in Iceland – it has vast natural resources, will get warmer by the year and China last year agreed a $500m currency swap deal with Iceland which was widely viewed as a sign of Beijing’s desire to build links with Reykjavik.â€
Tjolle says one of the concerns expressed is that the construction of five star hotels would mark the death of the current network of family-run guesthouses that characterise the Icelandic countryside.
“But the reality is that small family-run guesthouses are the main form of tourism business in Iceland because the conventional tourist season has been too small to justify any investment until now in major hotels outside of Reykjavik and Akureyri.
“Indeed, a lot of hotels that I am aware of in Icelandic countryside are mired in bad loans and run at a huge loss.â€
Valere Tjolle
 is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite 2011.
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