Nine years of building more sustainable places with Parka

It started with one parking payment in Skaftafell.

Nine years ago, someone parked their car in Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park, paid a small parking fee and walked off towards the glacier.

No launch party. No press release. Just one visitor, one parking space and one payment.

But for Parka, it was a big moment.

It was the first payment in Parka’s history and the beginning of an idea we still believe in today: that those who enjoy a place today can help it thrive for generations to come. 

At the time, tourism in Iceland was growing rapidly. Skaftafell, one of the main gateways to Vatnajökull Glacier, was welcoming more and more visitors every year. With more people came more pressure on parking areas, paths, facilities and the surrounding nature.

The infrastructure needed to keep pace with this rapid growth.

The idea behind Parka was simple: make it easy for visitors to pay a small fee and allow that revenue to support the operation, maintenance and development of the destination.

A parking payment may seem like a small thing. But thousands of small payments can make a real difference.

They help operators invest in paths, parking areas, toilets and other infrastructure that makes destinations safer, better organised and better prepared to welcome visitors. Infrastructure that also helps protect the surrounding environment and creates better places for both visitors and local communities.

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Nine years later

Skaftafell was the beginning.

Today, Parka works with operators across Iceland, helping destinations manage growing visitor numbers and generate revenue that can be used to care for and develop their sites.

And while nobody travels to Iceland to take a photo of a new toilet or a well-organised parking area, these are exactly the things that allow beautiful places to welcome thousands of people without losing what made them worth visiting in the first place.

For us, Parka has therefore never just been about paying for parking.

It is about making the visit part of the investment in the place.

Better infrastructure. Better visitor experiences. Better protection of the places people have travelled to see. And stronger destinations for the communities that live around them.

Still in Skaftafell. And now going further.

Nine years later, Skaftafell is still with us.

The goal remains the same, but the tools are better, the technology has evolved and we have learned an incredible amount along the way.

Now Parka is taking another big step.

What started with one parking payment beneath Vatnajökull is beginning to travel beyond Iceland, as we take our first steps in helping destinations in Ireland and the UK understand and manage their visitors.

Different places. Similar challenges. Although perhaps with a few fewer glaciers.

The idea remains remarkably simple:

Help the people who care for a place generate the resources they need to keep caring for it.

So, nine years after that first payment, we want to say thank you.

Thank you to Skaftafell for being the first.

Thank you to the landowners and operators who were willing to take a chance on a young Icelandic startup.

And thank you to every visitor who has parked, paid and walked off to experience something beautiful.

One payment may be small.

But together, they can help build more sustainable places.

For visitors. For local communities. And for generations to come.

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