In this small harbour town, the main economic activities are fishing and tourism. Fishing involves both sea fishing and then processing and packaging in the factories; one major fish processing factory, Skinney-Þinganes is one of the largest fish factories in the eastern part of Iceland, which employs a large number of people. The main production of these factories is bacaloa (saltfish) and processed lobster. Herring and capelin are also processed there. Ten large and a few smaller boats operate from Höfn. During the summer tourist season, trips are offered to the nearby Vatnajökull glacier. The surrounding area has served as a filming location for feature films including the James Bond movies Die Another Day and A View to a Kill, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Batman Begins.
Höfn has a supermarket, two cloth shops,a flower shop and a computer shop, four hairdressers, a gym, a golf course, two banks and four schools. Höfn contains a few hotels, most notably the Hotel Höfn, which was built in 1966. Located in the center of the town, the hotel has 68 rooms, five conference rooms and a dining room that can serve up to 140 guests. The hotel also has a smaller restaurant named Ósinn, which serves pizza, steak and lobster. Also of note is the Fosshótel Vatnajökull, located near the Vatnajökull glacier and the Árnanes hotel, a small farm hotel. Notable restaurants include Kaffi Hornið and Víkin Restaurant.
The tourist office has a display of Vatnajökull and the south-eastern corner of Iceland, and also strange-looking glacial mice. The headland of the town is called the Ingólfshöfði, which is 76 meters (249 ft) high and 85 kilometers (53 mi) (in a direct line) from the town. Sea birds such as skuas, guillemots, fulmar and puffins can be seen from the headland
