冰島旅遊那麼火 要感謝金融危機和火山爆發
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland has discovered the secret to a booming tourist industry: First have a mammoth financial implosion, then an enormous volcanic explosion.
冰島雷克雅未克——冰島發現了令旅遊業迅速發展的祕密：先來一場巨型金融大崩潰，再來一次超級火山大爆發。
The collapse of the Icelandic krona after the 2008 financial crisis transformed this Arctic island packed with 35 active volcanoes into a top destination by making it cheap for visitors.
2008年金融危機之後，冰島克朗出現暴跌，旅遊者所需的費用隨之下降，這個擁有35座活火山的北極島國因此成了頂級旅遊勝地。
Two years later, Eyjafjallajokull erupted, spewing thick ash clouds into European skies. Millions of passengers were grounded for days and airlines suffered financial losses. But the explosion put Iceland on the map. The foreign news media descended on the island, beaming images around the world of spectacular landscapes, even as journalists struggled to pronounce the volcano’s name.
兩年後，埃亞菲拉約庫火山(Eyjafjallajokull)爆發了，把濃厚的火山灰雲噴向歐洲的天空。幾天時間裏，數百萬旅客不能乘坐飛機，航空公司遭受了經濟損失。但這場火山爆發卻令人們重新注意到冰島。外國新聞媒體爭相趕來，雖說記者們費了好大力氣才能拼出這座火山的名字，卻把壯麗景觀的圖像發往世界各地。
“Iceland has been saved by the crash and the eruption,” said Fridrik Palsson, who owns Hotel Ranga, a luxury resort just 19 miles from the slopes of Eyjafjallajokull, the 16-letter volcano that is often shortened to E-16 by foreigners. “I have never seen anything take off so fast,” he said.
“經濟崩潰和火山爆發拯救了冰島，這樣快的發展速度我以前從沒見過，”朗高酒店(Hotel Ranga)的主人弗裏德里克•帕爾鬆(Fridrik Palsson)說，這家豪華酒店距離埃亞菲拉約庫的山坡只有19英里——有16個字母的火山名通常被外國人簡稱爲E-16。
The combined effect of the catastrophes has been an invasion on a scale possibly unseen since Vikings raided the island hundreds of years ago. Tourists are expected to outnumber the local population of 330,000 by seven to one next year, according to official data. By comparison, last year visitors to France outnumbered the French by two to one
兩場災難的綜合效應造成了自幾百年前維京人襲擊該島之後從未有過的大入侵。根據官方數據，明年旅遊者的數量預計將達到該國33萬人口的七倍。相比之下，去年參觀法國的旅遊者僅僅是法國人的兩倍。
Tourism is now the island’s biggest industry, taking over from fishing and aluminum smelting, much as the financial sector did in the years before the crash.
如今，旅遊業取代了捕魚和鋁礦冶煉，成了該島國最大的產業，就像經濟崩潰前幾年的金融產業一樣。
The influx could be even higher following the rise of the Pirate Party. With its black pirate flag and anarchist leanings, it recently gained more seats in Parliament and even more attention, helping to burnish Iceland’s image as cool and alternative.
隨着海盜黨(Pirate Party)的崛起，旅遊者可能還會繼續增加。這個黨以黑色的海盜旗爲標誌，帶有無政府主義傾向，最近在議會獲得了更多的席位，也得到了更多關注，它有助於打造冰島酷炫與另類形象。
The number of tourists has risen by as much as 30 percent every year for the last four years, according to Iceland’s Tourist Board. They brought in revenues of $3.2 billion in 2015, a third of the country’s export earnings. Tourism is the single biggest employer, and many Icelanders are pouring money into services and new construction.
根據冰島旅遊局的統計，過去四年來，遊客數量每年以30％的速度增加。2015年，他們爲這個國家帶來了32億美元的收入，佔該國出口收入的1/3。旅遊業成了冰島最大的工作機會提供者，許多冰島人都把資金投入到服務業和興建新建築中去。
Mr. Palsson, who used to sell Iceland as a place to see the Northern Lights, employs an astronomer in his hotel. He has also invested in three expensive telescopes that are powerful enough for guests to see the rings on Saturn or the fuzzy glow of a distant dying star.
帕爾鬆曾經宣傳過，冰島是看北極光的好地方，他爲自己的酒店僱用了一個天文學家，還投資購置了三個昂貴的望遠鏡，性能強大到可以讓客人看清土星光環，或者遠方某顆瀕死恆星的柔和光暈。
Landsbref, a fund management company that was spun off from one of three failed Icelandic banks, set up a $37 million tourism fund.
基金管理公司蘭德斯布里夫(Landsbref)的前身是三個破產的冰島銀行之一，如今它設立了一個3700萬美元的旅遊基金。
Reykjavik looks like a Scandinavian version of Singapore: compact, clean, orderly, and rich. Streets are lined with Crayola-color houses and Mercedes cars. Chic coffeehouses sell kale-and-date sandwiches, and play Ethiopian jazz. Restaurants offer inventive Nordic cuisine using local ingredients like puffin and shark. (One chef also proudly announced that Iceland now grows cucumbers, albeit in a greenhouse.)
雷克雅未克看上去很像斯堪的納維亞的新加坡：緊湊、潔淨、有序且富裕。街道兩旁排列着色彩如兒童畫般的房子，停靠着一輛輛梅賽德斯汽車。別緻的咖啡館出售羽衣甘藍與椰棗製成的三明治，演奏着埃塞俄比亞爵士樂。餐廳提供使用海雀和鯊魚等本土食材的創新北歐美食。（一位廚師還自豪地宣佈，冰島現在也能種植黃瓜了，雖然是在溫室裏。）
The 101, a boutique hotel that was once an exclusive hangout for bankers (101 is also the city’s richest postal code), is now filled with tourists. In a possible dig at the hotel’s former denizens, a sculpture of what looked like a gray-suited banker hung on one wall, with a cryptic instruction, “Disconnect the battery, remove the rear hood and hinge brackets,” inscribed beneath it.
一家名叫101的精品酒店曾經是銀行業人士專享的聚會之地（101也是這座城市最富有地帶的郵政編碼），如今擠滿了遊客。可能是爲了揶揄酒店的前住客們，有面牆上掛着一座雕塑，看起來像是一個身穿灰色西裝的銀行家，下面還題着一則晦澀難解的說明，“斷開電池，去掉後引擎蓋和鉸鏈支架”。
Tourists come from as far as Hong Kong. They chase the Northern Lights. They scale glaciers. They dive in the Arctic Circle with puffins, go horseback riding or take helicopter tours listening to ethereal, whale-like sounds by the Icelandic band Sigur Ros. Fans of “Game of Thrones” flock to filming locations around the island, some, apparently, genuinely in search of Wildlings.
就連遠在香港的遊客都來到這裏。他們追逐北極光。攀登冰川。和海鸚一起在北極圈潛水，騎馬，或乘坐直升機去聆聽冰島樂隊Sigur Ros鯨魚般的空靈歌聲。《權力的遊戲》(Game of Thrones)的粉絲們蜂擁前往冰島周邊的拍攝地點，有些人則是真心實意地在尋找野人。
Outside the capital, thick white plumes of steam, which are harnessed for Iceland’s energy needs, rise in the sky, as if the earth were vaping. Hot springs are everywhere, even in people’s backyards.
首都郊外濃厚的白色蒸汽飄向天空，就好像泥土在蒸發。這種蒸汽被用來滿足冰島的能源需求。到處都是溫泉，甚至在民宅後院就有。
But there is growing concern that uncontrolled tourism is placing too large a burden on this small island. Housing prices and rents are rising quickly, forcing young people to live with their parents. Car rentals have tripled, clogging traffic. Littering and light pollution are spoiling parts of the landscape, many Icelanders say.
但是越來越多的人擔心，不加控制的旅遊業正給這座小島造成太大負擔。房價和租金快速上漲，迫使年輕人與父母同住。汽車租賃漲了三倍，導致交通堵塞。很多冰島人稱，垃圾和光污染正在破壞部分景觀。
“It’s like the city is not my city anymore,” Birgitta Jonsdottir, the leader of the Pirate Party, complained last month. “It’s like Disneyland downtown.”
“就好像這座城市不再是我的城市，”海盜黨(Pirate Party)領袖比吉塔•約恩斯多蒂爾(Birgitta Jonsdottir)上個月抱怨說，“它就像迪士尼樂園(Disneyland)的市中心。”
A poll in October conducted by the national broadcaster RUV reported that 87 percent of Icelanders want the government to raise fees or taxes on tourists.
國家廣播電視網RUV今年10月進行的一項民意調查顯示，87%的冰島人希望政府增加對遊客的收費或稅收。
The tourist boom is making some Icelanders uneasy. Another crash like the one that hit the banks is just a matter of time, and many said they are saving money or investing in hard assets.
旅遊業的繁榮令有些冰島人感到不安。再出現一次金融危機只是時間問題。很多人稱，他們正在存錢或投資硬資產。
Pessimists say all it takes to prick the tourism bubble is a sudden drop in visitors, triggered by something like a financial crisis overseas or the adverse effects of Britain’s exit from the European Union.
悲觀主義者稱，戳破旅遊業泡沫只需要遊客數量的突然下降，比如由於國外的金融危機或英國退出歐盟造成的負面影響。
“It’s happening all over again,” said Kristjan Asjaersson, 51, a cabdriver. During Iceland’s short-lived heyday, he recalled having to crisscross the island just to deliver fish caught by Icelandic billionaires — they had forgotten to pack their catch before flying off in their private jets.
“一切正在重演，”51歲的出租車司機克里斯蒂安•阿斯加森(Kristjan Asjaersson)說。他回憶說，在冰島短暫的繁榮時期，他不得不在島上穿梭，只是爲了運送冰島億萬富翁捕的魚——他們在乘坐私人飛機飛走之前，忘了打包自己捕的魚。
“Too many people rely on tourism,” he said. “When tourist numbers fall, the economy will collapse again. I know it will happen. But I will be prepared.”
“太多人依賴於旅遊業，”他說。“遊客數量下降後，經濟會再次崩潰。我知道肯定會這樣。不過我會有所準備。”
