Summary
April 2003 was part of Iceland's spring shoulder season with Easter holiday travel. Foreign guests recorded 50,179 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 40,609 in April 2002—a +23.6% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 43.7%, down 4.8 percentage points from 48.5% in 2002. Foreign card spending totaled 0.8 billion ISK (0.0% YoY).
April 2003 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through April, reached 149,414, up 6.9% on the same period of 2002. Within 2003, April ranked 7th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for April over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 27.7%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 27.4% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 49.2%. Hotel occupancy of 43.7% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; this is typical of Iceland's low season, when many rural hotels close and demand concentrates in Reykjavík. Spending figures are foreign card turnover reported by the Central Bank and exclude cash and purchases made before arrival.
Foreign Overnight Stays by Source Market
The top source markets for April 2003, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2003 | Nights 2002 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 13,734 | 9,438 | +45.5% | 27.4% |
| 2 | Norway | 5,707 | 4,059 | +40.6% | 11.4% |
| 3 | United States of America | 5,272 | 6,440 | -18.1% | 10.5% |
| 4 | Sweden | 5,068 | 6,374 | -20.5% | 10.1% |
| 5 | Denmark | 4,031 | 3,327 | +21.2% | 8.0% |
| 6 | Germany | 3,798 | 3,040 | +24.9% | 7.6% |
| 7 | Finland | 2,318 | 1,832 | +26.5% | 4.6% |
| 8 | France | 2,177 | 1,339 | +62.6% | 4.3% |
| 9 | Other European countries | 1,927 | 648 | +197.4% | 3.8% |
| 10 | Ireland | 1,818 | 222 | +718.9% | 3.6% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for April 2003:
| Region | Occupancy 2003 | Occupancy 2002 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 58.2% | 65.3% | -7.1 pp |
| Total | 43.7% | 48.5% | -4.8 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 33.5% | 31.8% | +1.7 pp |
| East | 32.0% | 24.4% | +7.6 pp |
| South | 23.0% | 25.5% | -2.5 pp |
| North | 19.0% | 25.4% | -6.4 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in April 2003 was 767.4 million ISK (0.77 billion ISK), compared to 0 million ISK in April 2002.
This represents a 0.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 15,523 overnight stays in hotels in April 2003, down 12.6% from 17,752 in 2002.
Data Sources
- Overnight Stays: Statistics Iceland (Hagstofa Íslands) — foreign and domestic guest nights in registered hotels
- Occupancy Rates: Statistics Iceland — room occupancy as % of available hotel capacity
- Card Spending: Central Bank of Iceland (Seðlabanki Íslands) — foreign debit/credit card turnover