Summary
April 2004 was part of Iceland's spring shoulder season with Easter holiday travel. Foreign guests recorded 52,559 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 50,179 in April 2003—a +4.7% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 43.4%, down 0.3 percentage points from 43.7% in 2003. Foreign card spending totaled 0.8 billion ISK (+9.0% YoY).
April 2004 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through April, reached 162,032, up 8.4% on the same period of 2003. Within 2004, 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 22.7%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 26.7% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 52.3%. Hotel occupancy of 43.4% 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 2004, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2004 | Nights 2003 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 14,020 | 13,734 | +2.1% | 26.7% |
| 2 | Sweden | 7,190 | 5,068 | +41.9% | 13.7% |
| 3 | Norway | 6,261 | 5,707 | +9.7% | 11.9% |
| 4 | United States of America | 5,745 | 5,272 | +9.0% | 10.9% |
| 5 | Denmark | 4,174 | 4,031 | +3.5% | 7.9% |
| 6 | Germany | 3,756 | 3,798 | -1.1% | 7.1% |
| 7 | France | 2,143 | 2,177 | -1.6% | 4.1% |
| 8 | Other European countries | 1,969 | 1,927 | +2.2% | 3.7% |
| 9 | Ireland | 1,661 | 1,818 | -8.6% | 3.2% |
| 10 | Finland | 1,248 | 2,318 | -46.2% | 2.4% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for April 2004:
| Region | Occupancy 2004 | Occupancy 2003 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 55.7% | 58.2% | -2.5 pp |
| Total | 43.4% | 43.7% | -0.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 35.4% | 33.5% | +1.9 pp |
| East | 28.4% | 32.0% | -3.6 pp |
| South | 23.9% | 23.0% | +0.9 pp |
| North | 22.1% | 19.0% | +3.1 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in April 2004 was 836.09 million ISK (0.84 billion ISK), compared to 767.4 million ISK in April 2003.
This represents a +9.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 18,840 overnight stays in hotels in April 2004, up 21.4% from 15,523 in 2003.
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