Summary
December 2024 was part of Iceland's shoulder season. Foreign guests recorded 293,621 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 256,977 in December 2023—a +14.3% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 51.9%, up 6.0 percentage points from 45.9% in 2023. Foreign card spending totaled 20.1 billion ISK (+23.5% YoY).
December 2024 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through December, reached 4,469,599, down 2.6% on the same period of 2023. Within 2024, December ranked 10th 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 ahead by 9.0%. Compared with December 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 6.8%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 28.7% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 60.4%. Hotel occupancy of 51.9% 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 2024, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2024 | Nights 2023 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 84,346 | 68,325 | +23.4% | 28.7% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 65,515 | 71,003 | -7.7% | 22.3% |
| 3 | China | 27,453 | 18,948 | +44.9% | 9.3% |
| 4 | France | 15,173 | 10,323 | +47.0% | 5.2% |
| 5 | Other Asian countries | 14,965 | 8,744 | +71.1% | 5.1% |
| 6 | Germany | 13,914 | 14,743 | -5.6% | 4.7% |
| 7 | Italy | 8,038 | 6,040 | +33.1% | 2.7% |
| 8 | Spain | 7,333 | 6,038 | +21.4% | 2.5% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 6,573 | 6,804 | -3.4% | 2.2% |
| 10 | Japan | 4,563 | 2,116 | +115.6% | 1.6% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for December 2024:
| Region | Occupancy 2024 | Occupancy 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 70.8% | 62.9% | +7.9 pp |
| Total | 51.9% | 45.9% | +6.0 pp |
| South | 47.2% | 40.7% | +6.5 pp |
| Reykjanes | 44.9% | 44.2% | +0.7 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 17.6% | 18.6% | -1.0 pp |
| East | 15.5% | 10.4% | +5.1 pp |
| North | 15.4% | 13.3% | +2.1 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in December 2024 was 20,051.74 million ISK (20.05 billion ISK), compared to 16,235.82 million ISK in December 2023.
This represents a +23.5% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 45,054 overnight stays in hotels in December 2024, up 17.3% from 38,407 in 2023.
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