PLAY CEO Explains How Volcano Eruptions Boost Icelandic Tourism

PLAY首席执行官解释火山爆发如何促进冰岛旅游业的发展

Simple Flying recently got the chance to sit down for a chat with PLAY’s CEO, Birgir Jónsson, for an exclusive interview. One of the things we asked the executive about was how the airline is using an erupting volcano in Iceland as a marketing tool to sell more tickets. The Icelandic carrier even offered free tickets to flights flying close to the site, giving passengers and adventure junkies a front-row seat to a live erupting volcano.

Simple Flying（简单飞行）最近有机会与PLAY的首席执行官比尔吉尔·琼森进行一场独家采访。我们想向这位高管询问的其中一件事是，该航空公司如何利用冰岛的一座喷发的火山作为营销工具售出更多机票。这家冰岛航空公司甚至为飞往该地附近的航班提供免费机票，让乘客和探险迷们在前排看到火山爆发的实况。

Birgir explained the main reason why his airline is playing the volcano card so aggressively and the impact it hopes to have over the long term. Indeed, all this is only possible because the eruption poses no danger to nearby aircraft.

比尔吉尔·琼森解释了他们航空公司如此积极地打火山牌的主要原因，以及公司希望该举措长期内产生的影响。事实上，这一切皆有可能，因为火山爆发不会对附近飞行的飞机构成危险。

Let’s take a closer look at the thought process behind PLAY’s recent promotions.

接下来请仔细倾听PLAY对近期促销活动背后的思考过程。

Projecting Iceland as a nature lover’s dream holiday destination

将冰岛打造成大自然爱好者梦寐以求的度假胜地

From the CEO’s words, it is pretty clear that the primary reason for marketing the volcanic eruption was to promote tourism in the country. Birgir believes that events like these have a significant impact on travelers’ perceptions as it makes them look at Iceland as a dangerous yet exciting spot for a holiday.

从总裁的话中可以得出，打火山喷发的牌主要是为了促进冰岛的旅游业。琼森认为，像这样的事件对改变旅行者的看法有很大的影响，因为他们现在将冰岛看成是一个危险而又令人兴奋的度假地点。

Birgir Jónsson, CEO of PLAY, told Simple Flying,

PLAY首席执行官琼森告诉Simple Flying（简单飞行），

“I think it has to do with the image of Iceland as a destination within the massive amount of choices that the traveler has. And so it’s good to kind of sharpen the image of the Icelandic nation of being a semi-dangerous, semi-exciting place to visit. I mean I did it myself over the weekend. I flew over the volcano on one of our flights and it is really a massively unbelievable thing to do.”

"我认为这与冰岛作为旅游目的地的形象有关，因为旅游者有多种选择。因此，把冰岛作为一个半危险、半刺激的旅游地的形象变得更加鲜明是件好事。我的意思是，周末的时候我就亲身体会了一下。我在我们的一个航班上飞过火山上空，真的很令人震撼。"

Indeed, the CEO understands that such events are not a ‘deciding factor’ for most tourists when choosing their next holiday destination. Instead, the chance to see a live volcanic eruption from a few thousand feet in the air is surely a valuable addition to the list of things worth seeing in Iceland. However, Birgir hopes that the desired increase in the inflow of tourists into the country will happen over the long term.

实际上，首席执行官了解到，对于大多数游客来说，在选择下一个度假目的地时，此类活动并不是一个 "决定性因素"。但是，能有机会从几千英尺的高空看到火山爆发的实况，绝对是值得上榜冰岛奇观的清单。不过琼森希望游客进入冰岛的人流量能够长期保持下去。

Birgir also added that all flights, hotels, and rental cars are fully booked in Iceland since it is the height of the summer. But PLAY hopes that such spectacular scenes will drive in more tourists during the winter or even fall next year.

琼森还补充说，冰岛的所有航班、酒店和租车都被订满了，因为现在正处于夏季的高峰期。但PLAY希望这样壮观的场景能在明年冬天甚至秋天继续保持，吸引更多的游客。

Background

背景描述

On August 3rd, a volcano close to the country’s major international air traffic hub of Keflavik Airport erupted, posing a potential risk to air traffic if the situation took a turn for the worse. Thankfully, none of that happened, and operations at and around the airport continued normally. PLAY decided to make the most of the situation and began promoting the picturesque views on its social media platforms.

8月3日，冰岛主要国际航空交通枢纽凯夫拉维克机场附近有一座火山正在爆发，如果情况恶化，将对航空交通造成潜在风险。值得庆幸的是，情况并未持续恶化，机场及其周边地区的运营仍正常进行。PLAY公司决定充分利用这一点，并开始在其社交媒体平台上宣传这些如画的美景。

The Icelandic low-cost carrier even ran a promotion by giving away two roundtrip plane tickets to lucky winners on the internet. The award also came with a complimentary helicopter ride of the erupting volcano.

这家廉价航空公司还开展了一项促销活动，在互联网上向幸运儿赠送两张往返机票。获奖者还可以免费乘坐直升飞机近距离欣赏火山喷发的壮观画面。

What do you make of PLAY’s latest promotional efforts? Do you agree with the CEO in that such events will help boost tourism in Iceland over the long term? Please, share your thoughts in the comments.

你如何看待PLAY的最新宣传政策？你是否同意琼森所认为的此类活动将有助于长期促进冰岛旅游业发展的观点？请在评论中分享你的想法。