Summary
February 2021 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 6,714 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 303,851 in February 2020—a -97.8% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 12.1%, down 47.9 percentage points from 60.0% in 2020. Foreign card spending totaled 1.4 billion ISK (-90.3% YoY).
February 2021 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through February, reached 14,414, down 97.5% on the same period of 2020. Within 2021, February ranked 12th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for February over the five preceding years, this month came in behind by 97.5%. Compared with February 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were down 97.9%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 35.2% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 49.5%. Hotel occupancy of 12.1% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; this is typical of Iceland's low season, when many rural hotels close and demand concentrates in Reykjavík. 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 2021, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2021 | Nights 2020 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 2,360 | 67,249 | -96.5% | 35.2% |
| 2 | Germany | 566 | 24,232 | -97.7% | 8.4% |
| 3 | Sweden | 395 | 2,996 | -86.8% | 5.9% |
| 4 | China | 388 | 14,127 | -97.3% | 5.8% |
| 5 | France | 378 | 18,120 | -97.9% | 5.6% |
| 6 | United Kingdom | 368 | 96,418 | -99.6% | 5.5% |
| 7 | Denmark | 298 | 7,778 | -96.2% | 4.4% |
| 8 | Poland | 219 | 1,698 | -87.1% | 3.3% |
| 9 | Spain | 171 | 5,603 | -96.9% | 2.5% |
| 10 | Finland | 156 | 1,313 | -88.1% | 2.3% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for February 2021:
| Region | Occupancy 2021 | Occupancy 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| North | 26.8% | 26.8% | +0.0 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 14.4% | 34.0% | -19.6 pp |
| Total | 12.1% | 60.0% | -47.9 pp |
| South | 10.2% | 47.6% | -37.4 pp |
| Capital Region | 9.7% | 79.4% | -69.7 pp |
| Reykjanes | 9.3% | 62.4% | -53.1 pp |
| East | 5.0% | 16.9% | -11.9 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in February 2021 was 1,368.96 million ISK (1.37 billion ISK), compared to 14,181.79 million ISK in February 2020.
This represents a -90.3% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 39,935 overnight stays in hotels in February 2021, up 23.8% from 32,254 in 2020.
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