Summary
December 2016 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 261,811 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 163,538 in December 2015—a +60.1% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 63.5%, up 16.9 percentage points from 46.6% in 2015. Foreign card spending totaled 14.9 billion ISK (+58.2% YoY).
December 2016 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 3,463,402, up 36.0% on the same period of 2015. Within 2016, December ranked 8th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for December over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 164.2%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 34.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 66.5%. Hotel occupancy of 63.5% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; this is a healthy shoulder-season level with capacity still available outside the capital. 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 2016, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2016 | Nights 2015 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 90,505 | 61,854 | +46.3% | 34.6% |
| 2 | United States of America | 66,660 | 36,769 | +81.3% | 25.5% |
| 3 | China | 16,901 | 7,278 | +132.2% | 6.5% |
| 4 | Germany | 16,080 | 12,418 | +29.5% | 6.1% |
| 5 | Other Asian countries | 13,011 | 4,800 | +171.1% | 5.0% |
| 6 | France | 7,846 | 4,784 | +64.0% | 3.0% |
| 7 | Japan | 7,725 | 5,994 | +28.9% | 3.0% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 5,346 | 3,399 | +57.3% | 2.0% |
| 9 | Spain | 5,173 | 2,327 | +122.3% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Canada | 4,139 | 3,838 | +7.8% | 1.6% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2016:
| Region | Occupancy 2016 | Occupancy 2015 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 84.7% | 65.6% | +19.1 pp |
| Reykjanes | 65.6% | 39.2% | +26.4 pp |
| Total | 63.5% | 46.6% | +16.9 pp |
| South | 50.4% | 23.9% | +26.5 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 21.8% | 13.3% | +8.5 pp |
| North | 16.2% | 14.0% | +2.2 pp |
| East | 8.4% | 6.3% | +2.1 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2016 was 14,937.77 million ISK (14.94 billion ISK), compared to 9,444.93 million ISK in December 2015.
This represents a +58.2% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 28,554 overnight stays in hotels in December 2016, up 35.0% from 21,156 in 2015.
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