Summary
February 2025 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 329,955 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 335,856 in February 2024—a -1.8% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 62.8%, up 1.1 percentage points from 61.7% in 2024. Foreign card spending totaled 21.7 billion ISK (+5.0% YoY).
February 2025 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through February, reached 586,384, down 0.8% on the same period of 2024. Within 2025, February ranked 8th 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 7.8%. Compared with February 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 3.0%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 26.9% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 57.8%. Hotel occupancy of 62.8% 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 2025, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2025 | Nights 2024 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 88,612 | 100,418 | -11.8% | 26.9% |
| 2 | United States of America | 72,076 | 71,973 | +0.1% | 21.8% |
| 3 | China | 29,978 | 25,765 | +16.4% | 9.1% |
| 4 | Germany | 20,975 | 26,019 | -19.4% | 6.4% |
| 5 | France | 19,462 | 17,521 | +11.1% | 5.9% |
| 6 | Other Asian countries | 11,867 | 9,806 | +21.0% | 3.6% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 10,637 | 14,311 | -25.7% | 3.2% |
| 8 | Italy | 8,824 | 9,544 | -7.5% | 2.7% |
| 9 | Spain | 6,687 | 5,692 | +17.5% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 5,815 | 6,430 | -9.6% | 1.8% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for February 2025:
| Region | Occupancy 2025 | Occupancy 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 75.7% | 75.7% | +0.0 pp |
| South | 64.9% | 66.2% | -1.3 pp |
| Total | 62.8% | 61.7% | +1.1 pp |
| Reykjanes | 58.5% | 48.2% | +10.3 pp |
| North | 33.0% | 32.3% | +0.7 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 29.9% | 32.1% | -2.2 pp |
| East | 28.6% | 23.0% | +5.6 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in February 2025 was 21,667.94 million ISK (21.67 billion ISK), compared to 20,627.39 million ISK in February 2024.
This represents a +5.0% year-over-year change. Spending increased even as overnight stays declined, suggesting higher per-visitor expenditure.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 39,074 overnight stays in hotels in February 2025, down 19.7% from 48,633 in 2024.
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