Summary
February 2013 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 116,646 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 80,113 in February 2012—a +45.6% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 56.2%, up 12.0 percentage points from 44.2% in 2012. Foreign card spending totaled 4.6 billion ISK (+42.3% YoY).
February 2013 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through February, reached 191,733, up 38.5% on the same period of 2012. Within 2013, February ranked 8th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for February over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 90.7%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 47.0% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 70.7%. Hotel occupancy of 56.2% 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 February 2013, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2013 | Nights 2012 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 54,783 | 32,408 | +69.0% | 47.0% |
| 2 | United States of America | 19,035 | 13,608 | +39.9% | 16.3% |
| 3 | Germany | 8,628 | 4,334 | +99.1% | 7.4% |
| 4 | Japan | 4,431 | 4,347 | +1.9% | 3.8% |
| 5 | Norway | 4,168 | 3,613 | +15.4% | 3.6% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 4,140 | 3,459 | +19.7% | 3.5% |
| 7 | France | 4,129 | 4,517 | -8.6% | 3.5% |
| 8 | Denmark | 3,001 | 3,326 | -9.8% | 2.6% |
| 9 | Sweden | 2,607 | 2,777 | -6.1% | 2.2% |
| 10 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 1,555 | 652 | +138.5% | 1.3% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for February 2013:
| Region | Occupancy 2013 | Occupancy 2012 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 73.6% | 57.7% | +15.9 pp |
| Total | 56.2% | 44.2% | +12.0 pp |
| Reykjanes | 42.6% | 39.3% | +3.3 pp |
| South | 37.6% | 23.9% | +13.7 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 35.3% | 23.7% | +11.6 pp |
| North | 26.1% | 20.1% | +6.0 pp |
| East | 7.1% | 10.9% | -3.8 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in February 2013 was 4,564.24 million ISK (4.56 billion ISK), compared to 3,207.1 million ISK in February 2012.
This represents a +42.3% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 25,121 overnight stays in hotels in February 2013, up 8.9% from 23,074 in 2012.
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