Aug 26, 2019

The collapse of WOW Air could push Iceland into recession

WOW air plane

A WOW Air plane. Photo: Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images

In the months since Iceland's low-cost carrier WOW Air shuttered, the country's booming tourist industry — its largest — has suffered, spiking fears of a recession, the New York Times reports.

The big picture: The airline helped to push Iceland's tourist numbers from a few hundred thousand in 2011 to 2.3 million by 2018, helping the North Atlantic nation to recover from the collapse of its banking system during the Great Recession. But visits from international visitors could drop by 16% this year — including 20% fewer Americans, who are regarded as bigger spenders.

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