Summary
December 2019 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 274,977 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 272,350 in December 2018—a +1.0% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 51.4%, down 1.8 percentage points from 53.2% in 2018. Foreign card spending totaled 13.0 billion ISK (-10.4% YoY).
December 2019 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 4,094,286, up 2.0% on the same period of 2018. Within 2019, December ranked 10th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for December over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 27.0%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 25.1% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 62.1%. Hotel occupancy of 51.4% 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 2019, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2019 | Nights 2018 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 69,027 | 73,973 | -6.7% | 25.1% |
| 2 | United States of America | 60,110 | 72,708 | -17.3% | 21.9% |
| 3 | China | 41,736 | 37,560 | +11.1% | 15.2% |
| 4 | Germany | 13,594 | 11,015 | +23.4% | 4.9% |
| 5 | France | 12,803 | 8,569 | +49.4% | 4.7% |
| 6 | Other Asian countries | 10,906 | 11,793 | -7.5% | 4.0% |
| 7 | Japan | 6,068 | 4,770 | +27.2% | 2.2% |
| 8 | Denmark | 5,779 | 5,032 | +14.8% | 2.1% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 5,748 | 4,202 | +36.8% | 2.1% |
| 10 | Australia | 5,618 | 4,745 | +18.4% | 2.0% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2019:
| Region | Occupancy 2019 | Occupancy 2018 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 69.3% | 70.1% | -0.8 pp |
| Total | 51.4% | 53.2% | -1.8 pp |
| South | 45.4% | 44.8% | +0.6 pp |
| Reykjanes | 39.7% | 56.1% | -16.4 pp |
| East | 19.9% | 12.1% | +7.8 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 19.7% | 19.6% | +0.1 pp |
| North | 19.2% | 23.3% | -4.1 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2019 was 12,978.09 million ISK (12.98 billion ISK), compared to 14,481.3 million ISK in December 2018.
This represents a -10.4% 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 32,209 overnight stays in hotels in December 2019, up 7.1% from 30,072 in 2018.
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