Summary
December 2018 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 272,350 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 272,711 in December 2017—a -0.1% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 53.2%, down 4.7 percentage points from 57.9% in 2017. Foreign card spending totaled 14.5 billion ISK (+0.7% YoY).
December 2018 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 4,014,116, up 3.9% on the same period of 2017. Within 2018, December ranked 9th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for December over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 50.0%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 27.2% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 67.6%. Hotel occupancy of 53.2% 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 2018, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2018 | Nights 2017 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 73,973 | 86,003 | -14.0% | 27.2% |
| 2 | United States of America | 72,708 | 73,752 | -1.4% | 26.7% |
| 3 | China | 37,560 | 26,725 | +40.5% | 13.8% |
| 4 | Other Asian countries | 11,793 | 10,615 | +11.1% | 4.3% |
| 5 | Germany | 11,015 | 10,116 | +8.9% | 4.0% |
| 6 | France | 8,569 | 7,853 | +9.1% | 3.1% |
| 7 | Denmark | 5,032 | 3,558 | +41.4% | 1.8% |
| 8 | Japan | 4,770 | 6,606 | -27.8% | 1.8% |
| 9 | Australia | 4,745 | 4,863 | -2.4% | 1.7% |
| 10 | Spain | 4,468 | 5,198 | -14.0% | 1.6% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2018:
| Region | Occupancy 2018 | Occupancy 2017 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 70.1% | 76.1% | -6.0 pp |
| Reykjanes | 56.1% | 64.5% | -8.4 pp |
| Total | 53.2% | 57.9% | -4.7 pp |
| South | 44.8% | 47.8% | -3.0 pp |
| North | 23.3% | 16.0% | +7.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 19.6% | 19.8% | -0.2 pp |
| East | 12.1% | 8.3% | +3.8 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2018 was 14,481.3 million ISK (14.48 billion ISK), compared to 14,378.47 million ISK in December 2017.
This represents a +0.7% year-over-year change. Spending increased even as overnight stays declined, suggesting higher per-visitor expenditure.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 30,072 overnight stays in hotels in December 2018, up 7.6% from 27,939 in 2017.
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