Summary
December 2017 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 272,711 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 261,811 in December 2016—a +4.2% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 57.9%, down 5.6 percentage points from 63.5% in 2016. Foreign card spending totaled 14.4 billion ISK (-3.7% YoY).
December 2017 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 3,862,653, up 11.5% on the same period of 2016. Within 2017, 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 93.6%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 31.5% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 68.4%. Hotel occupancy of 57.9% 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 2017, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2017 | Nights 2016 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 86,003 | 90,505 | -5.0% | 31.5% |
| 2 | United States of America | 73,752 | 66,660 | +10.6% | 27.0% |
| 3 | China | 26,725 | 16,901 | +58.1% | 9.8% |
| 4 | Other Asian countries | 10,615 | 13,011 | -18.4% | 3.9% |
| 5 | Germany | 10,116 | 16,080 | -37.1% | 3.7% |
| 6 | France | 7,853 | 7,846 | +0.1% | 2.9% |
| 7 | Japan | 6,606 | 7,725 | -14.5% | 2.4% |
| 8 | Spain | 5,198 | 5,173 | +0.5% | 1.9% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 4,906 | 5,346 | -8.2% | 1.8% |
| 10 | Australia | 4,863 | 3,295 | +47.6% | 1.8% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2017:
| Region | Occupancy 2017 | Occupancy 2016 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 76.1% | 84.7% | -8.6 pp |
| Reykjanes | 64.5% | 65.6% | -1.1 pp |
| Total | 57.9% | 63.5% | -5.6 pp |
| South | 47.8% | 50.4% | -2.6 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 19.8% | 21.8% | -2.0 pp |
| North | 16.0% | 16.2% | -0.2 pp |
| East | 8.3% | 8.4% | -0.1 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2017 was 14,378.47 million ISK (14.38 billion ISK), compared to 14,937.77 million ISK in December 2016.
This represents a -3.7% year-over-year change. Despite growth in overnight stays in hotels, spending declined—possibly reflecting lower per-visitor expenditure or shifts in spending patterns.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 27,939 overnight stays in hotels in December 2017, down 2.2% from 28,554 in 2016.
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