Visit Faroe Islands has added 15 new routes to its Self-Navigating Cars initiative, turning the concept into a year-round tourism experience designed to encourage slower, more dispersed travel.

Following international interest in its Self-Navigating Cars initiative, Visit Faroe Islands has expanded the programme with 15 new locally curated routes, bringing the total to 45. Originally launched in summer 2025, the initiative is now available throughout the year as destinations continue looking for new ways to manage overtourism and encourage more responsible travel.

The Self-Navigating Cars concept encourages visitors to give up detailed trip planning in favour of guided journeys that reveal destinations one stop at a time. Using navigation technology combined with local storytelling, the routes take travellers beyond the Faroe Islands' busiest attractions to lesser-known villages, landscapes and cultural experiences selected by local people.

According to Visit Faroe Islands, early observations from the pilot suggest travellers using the branded Self-Navigating Cars drove around 50% fewer miles than standard rental car customers. The organisation says this helped reduce unnecessary driving, emissions and congestion while encouraging visitors to spend longer in local communities.

"In a world confronting climate change and overtourism, we need solutions that encourage people to travel differently," says Guðrið Højgaard, CEO of Visit Faroe Islands. "What we are seeing is that small behavioural nudges — subtle, systemic and replicable — can create meaningful cumulative impact."

Unlike conventional navigation systems that direct travellers to well-known landmarks, the Self-Navigating Cars programme gradually reveals each destination along a curated route. Travellers do not know exactly where they are heading next, creating an element of surprise while spreading visitors more evenly across the archipelago.

The 15 new routes have been designed to showcase the Faroe Islands in every season. They include winter coastal landscapes, autumn scenery, hidden summer fjords and villages that can be explored during spring, helping extend tourism beyond the traditional peak season.

"We discovered that when people stop optimising every moment of travel, they begin to experience places differently," says Marta Káradóttir, content and communications manager at Visit Faroe Islands and project manager behind the initiative. "The goal was never simply to move people geographically, but to create a deeper connection between travellers and the places they visit."

Visit Faroe Islands says the initiative attracted significant international attention following its launch in 2025, generating more than three billion impressions across paid and local media alongside coverage from international publications including the BBC, TIME, Financial Times, Fast Company, Forbes, Lonely Planet and CNBC.

The Self-Navigating Cars initiative continues to operate in partnership with 62N Car Rental. By encouraging travellers to explore lesser-known places instead of following the same popular routes, the programme reflects a wider shift towards destination management strategies that aim to balance visitor demand while supporting local communities throughout the year.