Summary
April 2016 was part of Iceland's spring shoulder season with Easter holiday travel. Foreign guests recorded 195,589 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 146,858 in April 2015—a +33.2% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 58.8%, up 6.7 percentage points from 52.1% in 2015. Foreign card spending totaled 14.6 billion ISK (+57.0% YoY).
April 2016 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through April, reached 879,203, up 36.1% on the same period of 2015. Within 2016, April ranked 11th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for April over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 76.9%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 26.8% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 59.0%. Hotel occupancy of 58.8% 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 2016, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2016 | Nights 2015 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 52,327 | 24,613 | +112.6% | 26.8% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 46,125 | 39,245 | +17.5% | 23.6% |
| 3 | Germany | 16,867 | 15,194 | +11.0% | 8.6% |
| 4 | Norway | 10,934 | 8,280 | +32.1% | 5.6% |
| 5 | Sweden | 8,679 | 10,275 | -15.5% | 4.4% |
| 6 | France | 8,454 | 5,981 | +41.3% | 4.3% |
| 7 | Denmark | 7,324 | 6,196 | +18.2% | 3.7% |
| 8 | Canada | 5,294 | 4,390 | +20.6% | 2.7% |
| 9 | Other Asian countries | 5,264 | 2,776 | +89.6% | 2.7% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 4,590 | 2,817 | +62.9% | 2.3% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for April 2016:
| Region | Occupancy 2016 | Occupancy 2015 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 72.6% | 70.0% | +2.6 pp |
| Total | 58.8% | 52.1% | +6.7 pp |
| Reykjanes | 54.7% | 54.8% | -0.1 pp |
| North | 49.0% | 29.5% | +19.5 pp |
| South | 42.7% | 32.8% | +9.9 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 33.6% | 26.3% | +7.3 pp |
| East | 25.8% | 15.6% | +10.2 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in April 2016 was 14,612.51 million ISK (14.61 billion ISK), compared to 9,308.83 million ISK in April 2015.
This represents a +57.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 37,606 overnight stays in hotels in April 2016, up 25.7% from 29,919 in 2015.
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