Summary
February 2019 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 320,359 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 321,347 in February 2018—a -0.3% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 67.0%, down 6.1 percentage points from 73.1% in 2018. Foreign card spending totaled 15.8 billion ISK (-3.0% YoY).
February 2019 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through February, reached 568,553, down 2.8% on the same period of 2018. Within 2019, 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 36.6%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 32.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 63.6%. Hotel occupancy of 67.0% 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 2019, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2019 | Nights 2018 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 104,537 | 107,078 | -2.4% | 32.6% |
| 2 | United States of America | 68,055 | 78,460 | -13.3% | 21.2% |
| 3 | China | 31,277 | 27,141 | +15.2% | 9.8% |
| 4 | Germany | 18,879 | 17,751 | +6.4% | 5.9% |
| 5 | France | 13,879 | 13,051 | +6.3% | 4.3% |
| 6 | Other Asian countries | 10,627 | 11,681 | -9.0% | 3.3% |
| 7 | Denmark | 7,790 | 4,976 | +56.6% | 2.4% |
| 8 | Spain | 6,630 | 5,378 | +23.3% | 2.1% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 6,574 | 6,748 | -2.6% | 2.1% |
| 10 | Japan | 4,822 | 8,181 | -41.1% | 1.5% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for February 2019:
| Region | Occupancy 2019 | Occupancy 2018 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 83.7% | 90.3% | -6.6 pp |
| Reykjanes | 67.5% | 79.9% | -12.4 pp |
| Total | 67.0% | 73.1% | -6.1 pp |
| South | 62.9% | 65.9% | -3.0 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 39.5% | 39.8% | -0.3 pp |
| North | 30.9% | 34.4% | -3.5 pp |
| East | 19.6% | 16.1% | +3.5 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in February 2019 was 15,767.23 million ISK (15.77 billion ISK), compared to 16,263.19 million ISK in February 2018.
This represents a -3.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 29,989 overnight stays in hotels in February 2019, down 5.7% from 31,793 in 2018.
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