Summary
April 2024 was part of Iceland's spring shoulder season with Easter holiday travel. Foreign guests recorded 270,970 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 310,536 in April 2023—a -12.7% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 51.1%, down 7.0 percentage points from 58.1% in 2023. Foreign card spending totaled 21.4 billion ISK (+4.3% YoY).
April 2024 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through April, reached 1,233,518, down 2.9% on the same period of 2023. Within 2024, April ranked 11th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for April over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 6.5%. Compared with April 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 15.0%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 29.2% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 52.4%. Hotel occupancy of 51.1% 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 2024, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2024 | Nights 2023 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 79,098 | 85,407 | -7.4% | 29.2% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 42,616 | 58,943 | -27.7% | 15.7% |
| 3 | Germany | 20,221 | 29,115 | -30.5% | 7.5% |
| 4 | France | 15,869 | 14,747 | +7.6% | 5.9% |
| 5 | China | 10,694 | 6,526 | +63.9% | 3.9% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 10,603 | 10,206 | +3.9% | 3.9% |
| 7 | Italy | 10,087 | 8,683 | +16.2% | 3.7% |
| 8 | Other Asian countries | 8,973 | 7,989 | +12.3% | 3.3% |
| 9 | Denmark | 7,099 | 9,141 | -22.3% | 2.6% |
| 10 | Spain | 6,607 | 10,173 | -35.1% | 2.4% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for April 2024:
| Region | Occupancy 2024 | Occupancy 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjanes | 60.2% | 60.9% | -0.7 pp |
| Capital Region | 58.9% | 66.1% | -7.2 pp |
| South | 52.6% | 60.5% | -7.9 pp |
| Total | 51.1% | 58.1% | -7.0 pp |
| North | 33.0% | 40.3% | -7.3 pp |
| East | 30.9% | 37.7% | -6.8 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 28.4% | 34.0% | -5.6 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in April 2024 was 21,350.74 million ISK (21.35 billion ISK), compared to 20,463.75 million ISK in April 2023.
This represents a +4.3% year-over-year change. Spending increased even as overnight stays declined, suggesting higher per-visitor expenditure.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 61,628 overnight stays in hotels in April 2024, up 11.6% from 55,209 in 2023.
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