Summary
April 2017 was part of Iceland's spring shoulder season with Easter holiday travel. Foreign guests recorded 256,224 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 195,589 in April 2016—a +31.0% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 66.0%, up 7.2 percentage points from 58.8% in 2016. Foreign card spending totaled 19.2 billion ISK (+31.4% YoY).
April 2017 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through April, reached 1,138,867, up 29.5% on the same period of 2016. Within 2017, April ranked 12th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for April over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 92.3%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 25.1% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 56.2%. Hotel occupancy of 66.0% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; this is a healthy shoulder-season level with capacity still available outside the capital. 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 2017, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2017 | Nights 2016 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 64,257 | 52,327 | +22.8% | 25.1% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 56,628 | 46,125 | +22.8% | 22.1% |
| 3 | Germany | 23,017 | 16,867 | +36.5% | 9.0% |
| 4 | Other Asian countries | 13,621 | 5,264 | +158.8% | 5.3% |
| 5 | Sweden | 9,911 | 8,679 | +14.2% | 3.9% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 8,261 | 4,590 | +80.0% | 3.2% |
| 7 | Norway | 8,200 | 10,934 | -25.0% | 3.2% |
| 8 | France | 7,992 | 8,454 | -5.5% | 3.1% |
| 9 | Spain | 7,089 | 1,999 | +254.6% | 2.8% |
| 10 | Denmark | 6,293 | 7,324 | -14.1% | 2.5% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for April 2017:
| Region | Occupancy 2017 | Occupancy 2016 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 79.7% | 72.6% | +7.1 pp |
| Reykjanes | 68.9% | 54.7% | +14.2 pp |
| Total | 66.0% | 58.8% | +7.2 pp |
| South | 59.9% | 42.7% | +17.2 pp |
| North | 40.6% | 49.0% | -8.4 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 35.2% | 33.6% | +1.6 pp |
| East | 31.7% | 25.8% | +5.9 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in April 2017 was 19,197.25 million ISK (19.20 billion ISK), compared to 14,612.51 million ISK in April 2016.
This represents a +31.4% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 38,125 overnight stays in hotels in April 2017, up 1.4% from 37,606 in 2016.
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