Summary
April 2005 was part of Iceland's spring shoulder season with Easter holiday travel. Foreign guests recorded 52,424 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 52,559 in April 2004—a -0.3% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 45.9%, up 2.5 percentage points from 43.4% in 2004. Foreign card spending totaled 0.9 billion ISK (+10.2% YoY).
April 2005 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through April, reached 159,612, down 1.5% on the same period of 2004. Within 2005, 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 13.4%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 21.5% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 47.6%. Hotel occupancy of 45.9% 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 2005, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2005 | Nights 2004 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 11,283 | 14,020 | -19.5% | 21.5% |
| 2 | Sweden | 7,497 | 7,190 | +4.3% | 14.3% |
| 3 | Norway | 6,183 | 6,261 | -1.2% | 11.8% |
| 4 | United States of America | 6,092 | 5,745 | +6.0% | 11.6% |
| 5 | Denmark | 5,288 | 4,174 | +26.7% | 10.1% |
| 6 | Germany | 4,498 | 3,756 | +19.8% | 8.6% |
| 7 | Other European countries | 2,372 | 1,969 | +20.5% | 4.5% |
| 8 | France | 2,264 | 2,143 | +5.6% | 4.3% |
| 9 | Finland | 1,328 | 1,248 | +6.4% | 2.5% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 1,278 | 1,172 | +9.0% | 2.4% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for April 2005:
| Region | Occupancy 2005 | Occupancy 2004 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 58.5% | 55.7% | +2.8 pp |
| Total | 45.9% | 43.4% | +2.5 pp |
| East | 35.9% | 28.4% | +7.5 pp |
| South | 31.0% | 23.9% | +7.1 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 28.2% | 35.4% | -7.2 pp |
| North | 22.5% | 22.1% | +0.4 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in April 2005 was 921.44 million ISK (0.92 billion ISK), compared to 836.09 million ISK in April 2004.
This represents a +10.2% year-over-year change. Spending increased even as overnight stays declined, suggesting higher per-visitor expenditure.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 24,841 overnight stays in hotels in April 2005, up 31.9% from 18,840 in 2004.
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