

Wish you could have traveled to a faraway island during the coronavirus quarantine? This spring, cooped-up web users had an unusual opportunity: a virtual romp around the Faroe Islands. The option boosted interest in the remote locale—and helped folks in lockdown broaden their horizons.
The Faroe Islands are a Danish semi-independent territory. The 18 major islands (There are 779 total!) lie about 200 miles north of Scotland, halfway between Norway and Iceland.
God made these islands rugged, rocky, and wildly beautiful. Fishing and aquaculture are traditional industries. But tourism is growing. Around 120,000 visitors arrived on the islands in 2019. However, during the pandemic, tourist travel ground to a halt.
So the area’s tourist board developed a brilliant marketing plan. Real, live human guides would escort an internet audience around the islands and provide commentary during the trek. According to the website, remote tourists “can explore the Faroes’ rugged mountains, see close-up its cascading waterfalls, and spot the traditional grass-roofed houses by interacting—live—with a local Faroese, who will act as your eyes and body on a virtual exploratory tour.”
Wearing helmet cameras, guides stood at the ready each day at 5 p.m. local time. They awaited instructions from their web audience.
The remote-control project was a way to help the industry rebound. “The idea is to whet people’s appetite and get them to want to come and experience this in real life,” Hanssen says.
“If you ask them to go left, they go left. If you ask them to jump, they jump. If you ask them to run, they run,” says tourist board spokesman Levi Hanssen.
Nearly 50,000 people joined the first free hour-long tours. Most viewers hoped to land a one-minute slot for controlling the guide in real time via computer-game-like controls.
“You’re sort of steering this person and deciding what you want to see and where you want this person to go,” says Hanssen. On one trip, a web user tried to make the guide jump into the ocean. Oops.
“It’s very surreal to know that you’re walking around here in the Faroe Islands being controlled by someone on their sofa,” Hanssen says.
Tours happened via kayak, horseback, and helicopter. Guides traipsed through the capital of Tórshavn, the second largest city of Klaksvík, and other scenic locations.
Guðrið Højgaard is CEO of Visit Faroe Islands. “Now that we don’t have any tourists,” she says of the remote-control tour guide plan, “we have a lot of extra time on our hands.”
I think this is pretty cool!
I think this is pretty cool! I thought the part about the person trying to make their guide jump into the ocean was funny, I was wondering if you could make them do that. Oh, and, I definitely want to go to the Faroes when I am older.
@ Everyone/2nd comment!!!!!
( plz no-one take this personaly ) in the 1st pic, it looks like the lady has no hands. and it does not look like she's, like, holding the end of her sleeve 2 keep warm????
@ Everyone ( addition 2 above )
as in, she had something happen 2 her in which the doctor had 2 cut them off
@ lena p.
congrats on first comment!!! :)
@ Belwyn R.
Thanks! And I see what you mean about the picture, but I think the lady's sleeves are just really long.
This is Mylee
This is super cool about the remote control tour guides and yes the part about the ocean was funny. This is helpful during covid but what about after.... Hopefully this doesn’t replace tour guides because I love tour guides. If you zoom in the picture you can see her hands,she just has stubby arms.
@Bewlwyn R
Lol! yes, it does look like she has no hands. maybe someone who was controlling her made her do something, and she lost her hands? sorry, that was dark...
This is Mylee
This is super cool about the remote control tour guides and yes the part about the ocean was funny. This is helpful during covid but what about after.... Hopefully this doesn’t replace tour guides because I love tour guides. If you zoom in the picture you can see her hands,she just has stubby arms.
This is Mylee
Opps sent it twice lol
@ lena p.+ mylee s
thanks!! :)
@ Naomi D.
hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!! :D
This is very interesting and
This is very interesting and a fun idea!
13th comment
Guðrið Højgaard: I just wanted to type that. For fun. :-)
I think it would be fun to be a guide
You would have to be paid alot, and it would be fun just going around the islands without pesky tourism crowds slowing u down.
@ matthew
yeah i wouldn't mind being a guide. it would be very fun!
yah bc if u went there there
yah bc if u went there there mite be a lot of people. i think this is cool and that part about the ocean is funny
I think it is a really neat
I think it is a really neat idea. About the jumping into the ocean, well, the tour guides probably have some rights to not do what the people tell them if they think it would be a dangerous situation. Or like what is the person wants them to keep running and running, and they get super tired. Do you think that they could slow down, for their own safety and health sake? Just some thoughts I had, and I would like other's opinions. Also, the last pic in the slideshow is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With the little waterfall, etc.!
from us both
btw, what curriculum('s) r u all doing 4 school this year? our list is posted below: (it would b cool some of us were doing the same stuff! btw, we're homeschooled :)
Math: Teaching Textbooks
Language Arts: Learning Language Arts Through Literature
History: Sonlight Old World History
Science: Apologia Human Anatomy and Phisology
I laughed out loud
When I read about the person who tried to make the tour guide go into the ocean I laughed out loud!
Hello!
I'm doing Teaching Textbooks too!
we are doing teaching
we are doing teaching textbooks too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we started school today!!!!
@ Sophie R.
COOL!!!! Which grade? ( p.s. r u new?)
@ Maribelle B
COOL!!!! Which grade?
@ Maribelle B
we started school yesterday, too!!!!!
Thats cool!
You can just tell them where to go.