Summary
December 2011 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 52,838 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 38,556 in December 2010—a +37.0% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 28.6%, up 4.4 percentage points from 24.2% in 2010. Foreign card spending totaled 2.7 billion ISK (+19.7% YoY).
December 2011 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 1,213,951, up 15.2% on the same period of 2010. Within 2011, 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 33.6%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 35.4% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 59.1%. Hotel occupancy of 28.6% 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 2011, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2011 | Nights 2010 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 18,714 | 12,583 | +48.7% | 35.4% |
| 2 | United States of America | 9,334 | 5,623 | +66.0% | 17.7% |
| 3 | Other European countries | 3,168 | 1,442 | +119.7% | 6.0% |
| 4 | Sweden | 3,055 | 2,365 | +29.2% | 5.8% |
| 5 | Norway | 3,046 | 1,746 | +74.5% | 5.8% |
| 6 | Germany | 2,520 | 2,949 | -14.5% | 4.8% |
| 7 | France | 2,449 | 1,600 | +53.1% | 4.6% |
| 8 | Denmark | 1,924 | 1,899 | +1.3% | 3.6% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 1,687 | 1,896 | -11.0% | 3.2% |
| 10 | Japan | 1,389 | 2,215 | -37.3% | 2.6% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2011:
| Region | Occupancy 2011 | Occupancy 2010 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 38.1% | 32.6% | +5.5 pp |
| Reykjanes | 33.2% | 31.3% | +1.9 pp |
| Total | 28.6% | 24.2% | +4.4 pp |
| South | 14.0% | 11.0% | +3.0 pp |
| East | 10.0% | 6.1% | +3.9 pp |
| North | 8.8% | 8.4% | +0.4 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 6.6% | 6.3% | +0.3 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2011 was 2,697.31 million ISK (2.70 billion ISK), compared to 2,253.9 million ISK in December 2010.
This represents a +19.7% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 16,483 overnight stays in hotels in December 2011, up 4.8% from 15,728 in 2010.
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