Summary
February 2024 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 335,856 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 323,257 in February 2023—a +3.9% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 61.7%, down 3.7 percentage points from 65.4% in 2023. Foreign card spending totaled 20.6 billion ISK (+9.8% YoY).
February 2024 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through February, reached 590,939, down 0.2% on the same period of 2023. Within 2024, February ranked 7th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for February over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 12.4%. Compared with February 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 4.8%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 29.9% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 59.1%. Hotel occupancy of 61.7% 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 2024, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2024 | Nights 2023 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 100,418 | 112,736 | -10.9% | 29.9% |
| 2 | United States of America | 71,973 | 66,410 | +8.4% | 21.4% |
| 3 | Germany | 26,019 | 26,459 | -1.7% | 7.7% |
| 4 | China | 25,765 | 6,376 | +304.1% | 7.7% |
| 5 | France | 17,521 | 20,783 | -15.7% | 5.2% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 14,311 | 11,360 | +26.0% | 4.3% |
| 7 | Other Asian countries | 9,806 | 10,891 | -10.0% | 2.9% |
| 8 | Italy | 9,544 | 7,636 | +25.0% | 2.8% |
| 9 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 6,430 | 6,922 | -7.1% | 1.9% |
| 10 | Spain | 5,692 | 6,074 | -6.3% | 1.7% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for February 2024:
| Region | Occupancy 2024 | Occupancy 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 75.7% | 79.9% | -4.2 pp |
| South | 66.2% | 65.5% | +0.7 pp |
| Total | 61.7% | 65.4% | -3.7 pp |
| Reykjanes | 48.2% | 57.6% | -9.4 pp |
| North | 32.3% | 40.3% | -8.0 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 32.1% | 32.2% | -0.1 pp |
| East | 23.0% | 25.1% | -2.1 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in February 2024 was 20,627.39 million ISK (20.63 billion ISK), compared to 18,793.82 million ISK in February 2023.
This represents a +9.8% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 48,633 overnight stays in hotels in February 2024, down 2.0% from 49,638 in 2023.
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