Summary
February 2015 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 171,032 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 135,533 in February 2014—a +26.2% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 62.6%, up 2.0 percentage points from 60.6% in 2014. Foreign card spending totaled 8.0 billion ISK (+39.1% YoY).
February 2015 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through February, reached 308,648, up 31.3% on the same period of 2014. Within 2015, February ranked 9th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for February over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 89.8%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 44.8% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 70.8%. Hotel occupancy of 62.6% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; this is a healthy shoulder-season level with capacity still available outside the capital. 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 2015, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2015 | Nights 2014 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 76,546 | 59,557 | +28.5% | 44.8% |
| 2 | United States of America | 30,562 | 26,394 | +15.8% | 17.9% |
| 3 | Germany | 13,905 | 9,265 | +50.1% | 8.1% |
| 4 | France | 7,533 | 6,677 | +12.8% | 4.4% |
| 5 | Japan | 5,654 | 4,202 | +34.6% | 3.3% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 4,980 | 3,971 | +25.4% | 2.9% |
| 7 | Sweden | 4,379 | 3,726 | +17.5% | 2.6% |
| 8 | Denmark | 4,027 | 3,227 | +24.8% | 2.4% |
| 9 | Norway | 3,658 | 5,875 | -37.7% | 2.1% |
| 10 | Canada | 3,171 | 1,887 | +68.0% | 1.9% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for February 2015:
| Region | Occupancy 2015 | Occupancy 2014 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 87.6% | 81.4% | +6.2 pp |
| Total | 62.6% | 60.6% | +2.0 pp |
| Reykjanes | 60.2% | 55.0% | +5.2 pp |
| South | 37.4% | 33.1% | +4.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 31.5% | 28.6% | +2.9 pp |
| North | 25.6% | 30.9% | -5.3 pp |
| East | 8.4% | 9.1% | -0.7 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in February 2015 was 7,967.84 million ISK (7.97 billion ISK), compared to 5,728.33 million ISK in February 2014.
This represents a +39.1% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 24,991 overnight stays in hotels in February 2015, up 0.3% from 24,911 in 2014.
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