Summary
February 2020 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 303,851 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 320,359 in February 2019—a -5.2% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 60.0%, down 7.0 percentage points from 67.0% in 2019. Foreign card spending totaled 14.2 billion ISK (-10.1% YoY).
February 2020 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through February, reached 569,548, up 0.2% on the same period of 2019. Within 2020, February ranked 1st of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for February over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 11.9%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 31.7% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 61.8%. Hotel occupancy of 60.0% 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 2020, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2020 | Nights 2019 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 96,418 | 104,537 | -7.8% | 31.7% |
| 2 | United States of America | 67,249 | 68,055 | -1.2% | 22.1% |
| 3 | Germany | 24,232 | 18,879 | +28.4% | 8.0% |
| 4 | France | 18,120 | 13,879 | +30.6% | 6.0% |
| 5 | China | 14,127 | 31,277 | -54.8% | 4.6% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 8,103 | 6,574 | +23.3% | 2.7% |
| 7 | Denmark | 7,778 | 7,790 | -0.2% | 2.6% |
| 8 | Other Asian countries | 6,708 | 10,627 | -36.9% | 2.2% |
| 9 | Japan | 5,968 | 4,822 | +23.8% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Spain | 5,603 | 6,630 | -15.5% | 1.8% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for February 2020:
| Region | Occupancy 2020 | Occupancy 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 79.4% | 83.7% | -4.3 pp |
| Reykjanes | 62.4% | 67.5% | -5.1 pp |
| Total | 60.0% | 67.0% | -7.0 pp |
| South | 47.6% | 62.9% | -15.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 34.0% | 39.5% | -5.5 pp |
| North | 26.8% | 30.9% | -4.1 pp |
| East | 16.9% | 19.6% | -2.7 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in February 2020 was 14,181.79 million ISK (14.18 billion ISK), compared to 15,767.23 million ISK in February 2019.
This represents a -10.1% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 32,254 overnight stays in hotels in February 2020, up 7.6% from 29,989 in 2019.
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