A quick path toward a massive amount of people suddenly discovering one of your country's greatest natural wonders is to be featured in a Justin Bieber video, specifically one that's bagged 440 million views in less than four years.
The video for Bieber's excellent Purpose cut "I'll Show You" famously places Bieber among the beauty of Iceland's Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon. Now, per local reports, the location will be closed to the public at least until June due to a palpable increase of foot traffic following the November 2015 release of Bieber's video.
Per CNN Travel, the "primary reason" given for the closure was environmental damage brought on by "an ever-increasing number of visitors." A previous closure was initiated in 2018 due to weather maintenance. As for the jump in tourism, the Telegraph reports that the location saw a leap from 150,000 in 2017 to 282,000 in 2018 alone.
Visit Iceland tourism agency boss Inga Hlin Palsdottir isn't down for outright blaming Bieber for any closures, however. Instead, Palsdottir is calling for renovations of the area to ensure those who want to experience it can do so again. "We need to build a better infrastructure there so we can invite people all year round," she said. "We need paths that can be discovered all year round. It's not only because of nature, it's a safety issue."
Purpose, released in 2015, still stands as the most recent studio album from Bieber. Last month, he resurfaced for an extremely rare interview, speaking with Vogue about a period of self-imposed celibacy and his decision to restrict himself to social drinking after a brush with Xanax abuse.
