Summary
April 2021 was part of Iceland's spring shoulder season with Easter holiday travel. Foreign guests recorded 17,215 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 3,620 in April 2020—a +375.6% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 13.1%, up 9.6 percentage points from 3.5% in 2020. Foreign card spending totaled 2.9 billion ISK (+646.5% YoY).
April 2021 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through April, reached 43,397, down 94.0% on the same period of 2020. Within 2021, April ranked 9th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for April over the five preceding years, this month came in behind by 92.0%. Compared with April 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were down 92.7%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 41.9% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 60.9%. Hotel occupancy of 13.1% 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 2021, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2021 | Nights 2020 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 7,215 | 957 | +653.9% | 41.9% |
| 2 | Germany | 1,812 | 304 | +496.1% | 10.5% |
| 3 | Italy | 1,462 | 38 | +3747.4% | 8.5% |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 803 | 310 | +159.0% | 4.7% |
| 5 | Lithuania | 688 | 126 | +446.0% | 4.0% |
| 6 | Spain | 578 | 101 | +472.3% | 3.4% |
| 7 | Poland | 433 | 34 | +1173.5% | 2.5% |
| 8 | Russia | 412 | 105 | +292.4% | 2.4% |
| 9 | France | 404 | 70 | +477.1% | 2.3% |
| 10 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 397 | 12 | +3208.3% | 2.3% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for April 2021:
| Region | Occupancy 2021 | Occupancy 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjanes | 18.8% | 9.8% | +9.0 pp |
| North | 15.4% | 2.6% | +12.8 pp |
| Total | 13.1% | 3.5% | +9.6 pp |
| Capital Region | 13.1% | 3.0% | +10.1 pp |
| South | 11.6% | 2.7% | +8.9 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 10.7% | 3.6% | +7.1 pp |
| East | 4.7% | 1.5% | +3.2 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in April 2021 was 2,911.64 million ISK (2.91 billion ISK), compared to 390.05 million ISK in April 2020.
This represents a +646.5% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 35,664 overnight stays in hotels in April 2021, up 487.2% from 6,074 in 2020.
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