Summary
February 2016 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 245,773 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 171,032 in February 2015—a +43.7% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 67.9%, up 5.3 percentage points from 62.6% in 2015. Foreign card spending totaled 13.2 billion ISK (+65.0% YoY).
February 2016 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through February, reached 418,721, up 35.7% on the same period of 2015. Within 2016, February ranked 10th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for February over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 118.0%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 42.2% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 69.9%. Hotel occupancy of 67.9% 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 2016, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2016 | Nights 2015 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 103,619 | 76,546 | +35.4% | 42.2% |
| 2 | United States of America | 49,493 | 30,562 | +61.9% | 20.1% |
| 3 | Germany | 18,666 | 13,905 | +34.2% | 7.6% |
| 4 | Japan | 9,791 | 5,654 | +73.2% | 4.0% |
| 5 | France | 9,601 | 7,533 | +27.5% | 3.9% |
| 6 | China | 8,527 | 2,536 | +236.2% | 3.5% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 5,887 | 4,980 | +18.2% | 2.4% |
| 8 | Other Asian countries | 4,838 | 1,743 | +177.6% | 2.0% |
| 9 | Sweden | 4,248 | 4,379 | -3.0% | 1.7% |
| 10 | Canada | 4,193 | 3,171 | +32.2% | 1.7% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for February 2016:
| Region | Occupancy 2016 | Occupancy 2015 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 91.7% | 87.6% | +4.1 pp |
| Total | 67.9% | 62.6% | +5.3 pp |
| Reykjanes | 58.8% | 60.2% | -1.4 pp |
| South | 48.7% | 37.4% | +11.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 31.3% | 31.5% | -0.2 pp |
| North | 26.9% | 25.6% | +1.3 pp |
| East | 13.1% | 8.4% | +4.7 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in February 2016 was 13,150.73 million ISK (13.15 billion ISK), compared to 7,967.84 million ISK in February 2015.
This represents a +65.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 32,047 overnight stays in hotels in February 2016, up 28.2% from 24,991 in 2015.
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