Visit South Iceland

What Visit South Iceland does

Visit South Iceland (legally Markaðsstofa Suðurlands) is the official destination marketing organization for the South Iceland region, headquartered at Tryggvagata 13 in Selfoss, Iceland. It operates south.is as a comprehensive destination portal covering attractions (waterfalls, glaciers, volcanoes, geothermal areas, national parks), accommodations, activities, dining, and curated travel routes including the Golden Circle, the South Coast, the Volcanic Way, and the South Coast Lighthouse Trail. The organization produces interactive and printed maps in cooperation with 21 South Iceland municipalities, publishes a multilingual (English/Icelandic) travel blog, distributes video content, and maintains a physical presence through tourist information centers and Reykjavík hotel-desk distribution. Its target audiences are domestic and international leisure travelers seeking itinerary planning information and B2B travel-trade professionals (tour operators, travel agencies, luxury tour providers) packaging the region.

The business model is membership-fee based: permitted tourism operators across South Iceland pay dues to participate in joint regional marketing, and the organization coordinates with the Icelandic Tourist Board on the Clean & Safe (Hreint og öruggt) certification program. Revenue is supplemented through cooperative arrangements with municipalities and other regional DMOs (Visit Reykjanes, North/East/West/Westfjords/Reykjavík DMOs) rather than direct consumer transactions. Management is led by managing director Ragnhildur Sveinbjarnardóttir, with headcount in the 1-10 range, consistent with a cooperatively/municipally governed DMO rather than an investor-backed commercial enterprise.

Name

Visit South Iceland

Legal name

Markaðsstofa Suðurlands

Website

https://south.is

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Visit South Iceland (Markaðsstofa Suðurlands) is the official destination marketing organization for South Iceland, promoting the region to leisure travelers and travel-trade professionals through its south.is portal, interactive and printed maps, curated travel routes, and content marketing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591), Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (56159)

akta.pro primary industry

Permitting, Reservations & Visitor Information Services (Passes, Booking, Visitor Centers) (THAAAGAD)

Keywords

• Destination marketing
• Tourism information
• Travel guides
• Regional promotion
• Destination portal

Headquarters

HQ city

Selfoss

HQ country

Iceland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Membership fees from tourism operators: Visit South Iceland generates operational funding through membership fees from tourism operators who participate in joint marketing affairs for the region. Members include tourism businesses that hold required permits for operating in Iceland's tourism sector.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Visit South Iceland is a destination marketing organization (DMO) for the South Iceland region. It provides destination information through the south.is website and produces printed maps for travelers. The organization operates as a cooperative body representing tourism operators and works in cooperation with municipalities in South Iceland to promote the region to international and domestic visitors.

Product overview

Visit South Iceland operates south.is as a comprehensive destination marketing and management platform. The core offering consists of the destination information portal providing travel planning resources across multiple travel routes (Volcanic Way, Golden Circle, South Coast, Lighthouse Trail), interactive mapping tools, and a travel blog with editorial content. Physical products include printed regional maps covering the entire South Iceland region and key sub-regions. The platform aggregates accommodation listings, activity providers, dining options, and practical visitor information to serve as the primary official resource for travelers visiting South Iceland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• South.is Destination Portal

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• South Iceland MunicipalitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVisit South Iceland operates in cooperation with South Iceland's municipalities to produce maps and conduct joint marketing affairs for the region. The organization produces four maps in cooperation with South Iceland's municipalities.
• Icelandic Tourist BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVisit South Iceland participates in the Icelandic Tourist Board's Clean & Safe project, which helps tourism operators welcome customers responsibly and demonstrates Iceland as a safe destination. The project was approved by Health inspection authorities and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
• Visit ReykjanescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVisit South Iceland collaborated with Visit Reykjanes to create The Volcanic Way travel route, spanning approximately 700 kilometers from Reykjanes to Höfn, showcasing volcanoes and their surroundings.
• Other Regional Tourism Boards (north.is, east.is, west.is, westfjords.is, visitreykjavik.is)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVisit South Iceland is part of a network of regional destination marketing organizations covering all of Iceland, with cross-linking and cooperative promotion across regions.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Visit East Iceland (Austurland): Regional DMO for East Iceland. Operates with the same cooperative/municipally-backed model and content portal approach as VSI, often linked to VSI's Volcanic Way route on its eastern end.
• Visit Reykjanes: Regional DMO directly adjacent to VSI's territory. Co-created the Volcanic Way route (700 km Reykjanes–Höfn), making it the closest peer in geographic remit and a direct product collaboration partner.
• Visit Reykjavík: Capital-city DMO and channel partner of VSI. Operates the same regional DMO model for Reykjavík, sharing the Icelandic Tourist Board's Clean & Safe framework and cross-linking visitor content.
• Visit West Iceland (Vesturland): Regional DMO for West Iceland. Same model, same funding structure, and part of the same cross-linked national DMO network.
• Visit North Iceland (Ness / Markaðsstofa Norðurlands): Regional DMO for North Iceland, operating under the same national DMO framework as VSI. Direct structural peer with parallel member-funded model, multi-channel content, and travel-trade partnerships.
• Visit Westfjords (Vestfirðir): Regional DMO for the Westfjords. Operates the same DMO mandate over a smaller, more remote region, making it structurally identical to VSI at smaller scale.

Broad incumbents

• Visit Greenland: National DMO for Greenland operating under the same Visit Greenland brand format. Comparable in mandate (nature-led destination promotion) and small-team, content-driven model, though at a national rather than regional scale.
• Visit Faroe Islands: National DMO for the Faroe Islands, a comparable North Atlantic destination. Similar DMO model, content portal, and reliance on nature-based tourism; competes for the same source-market visitor.
• Visit Iceland (Inspired by Iceland): National DMO for Iceland, operating the flagship 'Inspired by Iceland' brand. Overlaps in destination marketing remit but operates at the country level rather than a single region, running campaigns that often hyperlink to VSI for South Iceland content.

Others

• Icelandic Tourist Board (Ferðamálastofa): National tourism authority that oversees the Clean & Safe program VSI participates in. Not a commercial peer but a regulatory and strategic counterpart that sets framework standards for all Icelandic DMOs including VSI.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/southiceland
• Xx.com/southiceland
• Facebookfacebook.com/visitsouthiceland

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Visit South Iceland