Summary
December 2013 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 97,978 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 69,091 in December 2012—a +41.8% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 42.4%, up 8.1 percentage points from 34.3% in 2012. Foreign card spending totaled 5.2 billion ISK (+36.9% YoY).
December 2013 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 1,709,124, up 15.5% on the same period of 2012. Within 2013, 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 97.7%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 43.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 69.0%. Hotel occupancy of 42.4% 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 2013, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2013 | Nights 2012 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 42,729 | 25,895 | +65.0% | 43.6% |
| 2 | United States of America | 19,986 | 11,584 | +72.5% | 20.4% |
| 3 | Germany | 4,880 | 5,097 | -4.3% | 5.0% |
| 4 | Japan | 4,288 | 3,072 | +39.6% | 4.4% |
| 5 | France | 3,824 | 2,747 | +39.2% | 3.9% |
| 6 | Sweden | 2,686 | 2,944 | -8.8% | 2.7% |
| 7 | Norway | 2,513 | 2,987 | -15.9% | 2.6% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 2,078 | 1,596 | +30.2% | 2.1% |
| 9 | Spain | 1,946 | 1,489 | +30.7% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Denmark | 1,763 | 2,216 | -20.4% | 1.8% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2013:
| Region | Occupancy 2013 | Occupancy 2012 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 57.0% | 48.1% | +8.9 pp |
| Total | 42.4% | 34.3% | +8.1 pp |
| Reykjanes | 42.0% | 33.2% | +8.8 pp |
| South | 22.2% | 14.8% | +7.4 pp |
| North | 17.8% | 14.9% | +2.9 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 11.5% | 5.9% | +5.6 pp |
| East | 7.7% | 6.1% | +1.6 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2013 was 5,206.17 million ISK (5.21 billion ISK), compared to 3,802.02 million ISK in December 2012.
This represents a +36.9% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 19,121 overnight stays in hotels in December 2013, down 4.9% from 20,105 in 2012.
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