Summary
December 2005 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 28,488 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 25,002 in December 2004—a +13.9% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 25.0%, up 2.8 percentage points from 22.2% in 2004. Foreign card spending totaled 0.7 billion ISK (+10.0% YoY).
December 2005 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 817,260, up 5.4% on the same period of 2004. Within 2005, December ranked 11th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for December over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 20.0%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 29.8% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 52.9%. Hotel occupancy of 25.0% 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 December 2005, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2005 | Nights 2004 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 8,480 | 7,578 | +11.9% | 29.8% |
| 2 | United States of America | 4,342 | 3,586 | +21.1% | 15.2% |
| 3 | Japan | 2,259 | 1,165 | +93.9% | 7.9% |
| 4 | Germany | 2,076 | 2,364 | -12.2% | 7.3% |
| 5 | France | 1,815 | 1,758 | +3.2% | 6.4% |
| 6 | Denmark | 1,650 | 1,353 | +22.0% | 5.8% |
| 7 | Norway | 1,495 | 1,520 | -1.6% | 5.2% |
| 8 | Sweden | 1,456 | 1,541 | -5.5% | 5.1% |
| 9 | Other European countries | 1,223 | 1,051 | +16.4% | 4.3% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 882 | 1,003 | -12.1% | 3.1% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2005:
| Region | Occupancy 2005 | Occupancy 2004 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 31.9% | 29.4% | +2.5 pp |
| Total | 25.0% | 22.2% | +2.8 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 22.2% | 20.8% | +1.4 pp |
| East | 14.3% | 20.3% | -6.0 pp |
| South | 9.9% | 7.3% | +2.6 pp |
| North | 8.8% | 8.3% | +0.5 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2005 was 720.61 million ISK (0.72 billion ISK), compared to 655 million ISK in December 2004.
This represents a +10.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 13,808 overnight stays in hotels in December 2005, up 11.9% from 12,337 in 2004.
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