The second year of the Faroe Islands’ “Closed for Maintenance-Open for voluntourism” scheme, which last year saw more than 3,000 people apply to spend three days repairing and refurbishing tourist facilities on the archipelago, has proved even more popular than the first.
Within 24 hours of registration opening for 100 voluntourism places, 5,886 people had applied to spend 15-17 April 2020 working at tourist sites in pristine natural settings, reports Visit Faroe Islands.
The applicants came from 95 countries, including 510 from the UK and several that are thousands of miles from the North Atlantic country, such as Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Taiwan. They ranged in age from 18 to 77 years, with accountants, diplomats and film directors among their number.
For 2020, 14 popular tourist sites will be closed to the general public for the maintenance weekend. These include the path to the top of Slættaratindur, the archipelago’s highest mountain, parts of which are difficult to climb safely and will be re-marked.