Summary
December 2023 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 256,977 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 270,158 in December 2022—a -4.9% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 45.9%, down 4.1 percentage points from 50.0% in 2022. Foreign card spending totaled 16.2 billion ISK (+3.0% YoY).
December 2023 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 4,589,154, up 14.3% on the same period of 2022. Within 2023, December ranked 12th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for December over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in behind by 5.0%. Compared with December 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were down 6.5%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 27.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 61.6%. Hotel occupancy of 45.9% 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 2023, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2023 | Nights 2022 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 71,003 | 80,426 | -11.7% | 27.6% |
| 2 | United States of America | 68,325 | 74,827 | -8.7% | 26.6% |
| 3 | China | 18,948 | 16,726 | +13.3% | 7.4% |
| 4 | Germany | 14,743 | 15,595 | -5.5% | 5.7% |
| 5 | France | 10,323 | 11,851 | -12.9% | 4.0% |
| 6 | Other Asian countries | 8,744 | 8,489 | +3.0% | 3.4% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 6,804 | 5,877 | +15.8% | 2.6% |
| 8 | Italy | 6,040 | 5,545 | +8.9% | 2.4% |
| 9 | Spain | 6,038 | 7,025 | -14.0% | 2.3% |
| 10 | Canada | 4,608 | 3,157 | +46.0% | 1.8% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2023:
| Region | Occupancy 2023 | Occupancy 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 62.9% | 70.8% | -7.9 pp |
| Total | 45.9% | 50.0% | -4.1 pp |
| Reykjanes | 44.2% | 47.9% | -3.7 pp |
| South | 40.7% | 39.6% | +1.1 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 18.6% | 15.5% | +3.1 pp |
| North | 13.3% | 12.3% | +1.0 pp |
| East | 10.4% | 11.7% | -1.3 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2023 was 16,235.82 million ISK (16.24 billion ISK), compared to 15,764.39 million ISK in December 2022.
This represents a +3.0% year-over-year change. Spending increased even as overnight stays declined, suggesting higher per-visitor expenditure.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 38,407 overnight stays in hotels in December 2023, down 18.8% from 47,298 in 2022.
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