Summary
April 2018 was part of Iceland's spring shoulder season with Easter holiday travel. Foreign guests recorded 235,087 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 256,224 in April 2017—a -8.2% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 54.3%, down 11.7 percentage points from 66.0% in 2017. Foreign card spending totaled 15.9 billion ISK (-17.0% YoY).
April 2018 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through April, reached 1,156,243, up 1.5% on the same period of 2017. Within 2018, 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 42.1%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 29.5% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 55.5%. Hotel occupancy of 54.3% 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 2018, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2018 | Nights 2017 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 69,282 | 64,257 | +7.8% | 29.5% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 44,324 | 56,628 | -21.7% | 18.9% |
| 3 | Germany | 16,974 | 23,017 | -26.3% | 7.2% |
| 4 | Other Asian countries | 9,996 | 13,621 | -26.6% | 4.3% |
| 5 | France | 9,405 | 7,992 | +17.7% | 4.0% |
| 6 | Sweden | 9,069 | 9,911 | -8.5% | 3.9% |
| 7 | Norway | 7,516 | 8,200 | -8.3% | 3.2% |
| 8 | China | 6,824 | 5,990 | +13.9% | 2.9% |
| 9 | Canada | 6,534 | 5,520 | +18.4% | 2.8% |
| 10 | Denmark | 6,097 | 6,293 | -3.1% | 2.6% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for April 2018:
| Region | Occupancy 2018 | Occupancy 2017 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 66.1% | 79.7% | -13.6 pp |
| Reykjanes | 56.6% | 68.9% | -12.3 pp |
| Total | 54.3% | 66.0% | -11.7 pp |
| South | 45.5% | 59.9% | -14.4 pp |
| North | 37.0% | 40.6% | -3.6 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 33.0% | 35.2% | -2.2 pp |
| East | 22.0% | 31.7% | -9.7 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in April 2018 was 15,927.86 million ISK (15.93 billion ISK), compared to 19,197.25 million ISK in April 2017.
This represents a -17.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 45,359 overnight stays in hotels in April 2018, up 19.0% from 38,125 in 2017.
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