Summary
August 2023 was part of Iceland's peak summer season, characterized by midnight sun and maximum tourist activity. Foreign guests recorded 530,300 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 521,431 in August 2022—a +1.7% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 85.8%, down 2.8 percentage points from 88.6% in 2022. Foreign card spending totaled 44.1 billion ISK (+14.1% YoY).
August 2023 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through August, reached 3,124,232, up 19.2% on the same period of 2022. Within 2023, August ranked 1st of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for August over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 14.5%. Compared with August 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 9.4%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 35.4% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 52.2%. Hotel occupancy of 85.8% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; at this level most hotels in the capital are effectively full on peak nights. 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 August 2023, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2023 | Nights 2022 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 187,708 | 166,215 | +12.9% | 35.4% |
| 2 | Germany | 54,370 | 69,673 | -22.0% | 10.3% |
| 3 | Italy | 34,907 | 39,498 | -11.6% | 6.6% |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 29,782 | 36,516 | -18.4% | 5.6% |
| 5 | Spain | 26,452 | 23,945 | +10.5% | 5.0% |
| 6 | France | 25,653 | 29,176 | -12.1% | 4.8% |
| 7 | Israel | 17,668 | 23,957 | -26.3% | 3.3% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 15,674 | 14,466 | +8.4% | 3.0% |
| 9 | China | 14,935 | 3,564 | +319.1% | 2.8% |
| 10 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 13,520 | 12,365 | +9.3% | 2.5% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for August 2023:
| Region | Occupancy 2023 | Occupancy 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| South | 91.9% | 92.5% | -0.6 pp |
| East | 91.1% | 93.6% | -2.5 pp |
| Reykjanes | 88.2% | 81.1% | +7.1 pp |
| Total | 85.8% | 88.6% | -2.8 pp |
| Capital Region | 84.3% | 90.3% | -6.0 pp |
| North | 81.3% | 82.7% | -1.4 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 79.4% | 82.3% | -2.9 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in August 2023 was 44,103.25 million ISK (44.10 billion ISK), compared to 38,669.39 million ISK in August 2022.
This represents a +14.1% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 64,289 overnight stays in hotels in August 2023, down 15.8% from 76,390 in 2022.
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