Summary
February 2017 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 298,823 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 245,773 in February 2016—a +21.6% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 77.8%, up 9.9 percentage points from 67.9% in 2016. Foreign card spending totaled 17.4 billion ISK (+32.1% YoY).
February 2017 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through February, reached 562,193, up 34.3% on the same period of 2016. Within 2017, February ranked 7th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for February over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 99.5%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 36.5% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 67.0%. Hotel occupancy of 77.8% 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 2017, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2017 | Nights 2016 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 109,206 | 103,619 | +5.4% | 36.5% |
| 2 | United States of America | 70,545 | 49,493 | +42.5% | 23.6% |
| 3 | Germany | 20,588 | 18,666 | +10.3% | 6.9% |
| 4 | China | 16,894 | 8,527 | +98.1% | 5.7% |
| 5 | France | 11,836 | 9,601 | +23.3% | 4.0% |
| 6 | Other Asian countries | 11,377 | 4,838 | +135.2% | 3.8% |
| 7 | Japan | 9,849 | 9,791 | +0.6% | 3.3% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 7,900 | 5,887 | +34.2% | 2.6% |
| 9 | Spain | 5,860 | 2,592 | +126.1% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Canada | 3,467 | 4,193 | -17.3% | 1.2% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for February 2017:
| Region | Occupancy 2017 | Occupancy 2016 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 96.0% | 91.7% | +4.3 pp |
| Reykjanes | 90.1% | 58.8% | +31.3 pp |
| Total | 77.8% | 67.9% | +9.9 pp |
| South | 67.9% | 48.7% | +19.2 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 43.1% | 31.3% | +11.8 pp |
| North | 29.7% | 26.9% | +2.8 pp |
| East | 16.8% | 13.1% | +3.7 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in February 2017 was 17,374.54 million ISK (17.37 billion ISK), compared to 13,150.73 million ISK in February 2016.
This represents a +32.1% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 35,618 overnight stays in hotels in February 2017, up 11.1% from 32,047 in 2016.
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