Summary
December 2006 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 37,188 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 28,488 in December 2005—a +30.5% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 30.9%, up 5.9 percentage points from 25.0% in 2005. Foreign card spending totaled 1.1 billion ISK (+49.0% YoY).
December 2006 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 917,948, up 12.3% on the same period of 2005. Within 2006, 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 47.9%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 36.0% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 54.1%. Hotel occupancy of 30.9% 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 2006, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2006 | Nights 2005 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 13,372 | 8,480 | +57.7% | 36.0% |
| 2 | United States of America | 4,130 | 4,342 | -4.9% | 11.1% |
| 3 | Denmark | 2,629 | 1,650 | +59.3% | 7.1% |
| 4 | Norway | 2,125 | 1,495 | +42.1% | 5.7% |
| 5 | Sweden | 2,120 | 1,456 | +45.6% | 5.7% |
| 6 | Germany | 2,093 | 2,076 | +0.8% | 5.6% |
| 7 | Other European countries | 2,058 | 1,223 | +68.3% | 5.5% |
| 8 | France | 1,640 | 1,815 | -9.6% | 4.4% |
| 9 | Japan | 1,469 | 2,259 | -35.0% | 4.0% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 1,195 | 882 | +35.5% | 3.2% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2006:
| Region | Occupancy 2006 | Occupancy 2005 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 42.1% | 31.9% | +10.2 pp |
| East | 32.5% | 14.3% | +18.2 pp |
| Total | 30.9% | 25.0% | +5.9 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 29.5% | 22.2% | +7.3 pp |
| North | 8.3% | 8.8% | -0.5 pp |
| South | 8.2% | 9.9% | -1.7 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2006 was 1,073.47 million ISK (1.07 billion ISK), compared to 720.61 million ISK in December 2005.
This represents a +49.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 16,417 overnight stays in hotels in December 2006, up 18.9% from 13,808 in 2005.
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