Summary
January 2003 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 22,368 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 22,489 in January 2002—a -0.5% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 26.0%, down 0.8 percentage points from 26.8% in 2002. Foreign card spending totaled 0.6 billion ISK (0.0% YoY).
January 2003 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through January, reached 22,368, down 0.5% on the same period of 2002. Within 2003, January ranked 12th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for January over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 25.8%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 24.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 50.6%. Hotel occupancy of 26.0% 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 January 2003, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2003 | Nights 2002 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 5,498 | 5,444 | +1.0% | 24.6% |
| 2 | United States of America | 3,312 | 3,037 | +9.1% | 14.8% |
| 3 | Sweden | 2,513 | 2,397 | +4.8% | 11.2% |
| 4 | Norway | 2,362 | 2,948 | -19.9% | 10.6% |
| 5 | Germany | 2,040 | 1,682 | +21.3% | 9.1% |
| 6 | Denmark | 1,602 | 2,274 | -29.6% | 7.2% |
| 7 | Belgium | 834 | 318 | +162.3% | 3.7% |
| 8 | France | 753 | 1,541 | -51.1% | 3.4% |
| 9 | Japan | 699 | 359 | +94.7% | 3.1% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 684 | 482 | +41.9% | 3.1% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for January 2003:
| Region | Occupancy 2003 | Occupancy 2002 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 37.9% | 38.7% | -0.8 pp |
| Total | 26.0% | 26.8% | -0.8 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 19.1% | 14.4% | +4.7 pp |
| East | 16.3% | 11.0% | +5.3 pp |
| South | 9.1% | 10.2% | -1.1 pp |
| North | 8.3% | 9.4% | -1.1 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in January 2003 was 608.21 million ISK (0.61 billion ISK), compared to 0 million ISK in January 2002.
This represents a 0.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 8,275 overnight stays in hotels in January 2003, down 7.1% from 8,912 in 2002.
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