Summary
April 2006 was part of Iceland's spring shoulder season with Easter holiday travel. Foreign guests recorded 56,569 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 52,424 in April 2005—a +7.9% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 44.7%, down 1.2 percentage points from 45.9% in 2005. Foreign card spending totaled 1.0 billion ISK (+13.1% YoY).
April 2006 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through April, reached 169,510, up 6.2% on the same period of 2005. Within 2006, 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 16.6%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 28.2% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 50.0%. Hotel occupancy of 44.7% 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 2006, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2006 | Nights 2005 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 15,936 | 11,283 | +41.2% | 28.2% |
| 2 | United States of America | 7,128 | 6,092 | +17.0% | 12.6% |
| 3 | Sweden | 5,215 | 7,497 | -30.4% | 9.2% |
| 4 | Norway | 5,042 | 6,183 | -18.5% | 8.9% |
| 5 | Denmark | 4,255 | 5,288 | -19.5% | 7.5% |
| 6 | Germany | 3,659 | 4,498 | -18.7% | 6.5% |
| 7 | Other European countries | 3,058 | 2,372 | +28.9% | 5.4% |
| 8 | France | 2,298 | 2,264 | +1.5% | 4.1% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 1,844 | 1,278 | +44.3% | 3.3% |
| 10 | Ireland | 1,654 | 107 | +1445.8% | 2.9% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for April 2006:
| Region | Occupancy 2006 | Occupancy 2005 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 56.9% | 58.5% | -1.6 pp |
| Total | 44.7% | 45.9% | -1.2 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 40.0% | 28.2% | +11.8 pp |
| South | 28.3% | 31.0% | -2.7 pp |
| North | 21.3% | 22.5% | -1.2 pp |
| East | 17.8% | 35.9% | -18.1 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in April 2006 was 1,041.95 million ISK (1.04 billion ISK), compared to 921.44 million ISK in April 2005.
This represents a +13.1% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 23,486 overnight stays in hotels in April 2006, down 5.5% from 24,841 in 2005.
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