Summary
January 2011 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 42,231 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 42,049 in January 2010—a +0.4% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 25.6%, down 0.2 percentage points from 25.8% in 2010. Foreign card spending totaled 2.6 billion ISK (+13.0% YoY).
January 2011 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through January, reached 42,231, up 0.4% on the same period of 2010. Within 2011, 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 12.3%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 31.7% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 51.5%. Hotel occupancy of 25.6% 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 2011, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2011 | Nights 2010 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 13,392 | 14,247 | -6.0% | 31.7% |
| 2 | United States of America | 4,962 | 3,856 | +28.7% | 11.7% |
| 3 | Germany | 3,379 | 3,164 | +6.8% | 8.0% |
| 4 | France | 3,326 | 2,376 | +40.0% | 7.9% |
| 5 | Sweden | 2,995 | 4,311 | -30.5% | 7.1% |
| 6 | Other European countries | 2,777 | 2,327 | +19.3% | 6.6% |
| 7 | Norway | 2,070 | 3,231 | -35.9% | 4.9% |
| 8 | Denmark | 1,927 | 1,805 | +6.8% | 4.6% |
| 9 | Japan | 1,641 | 1,451 | +13.1% | 3.9% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 1,465 | 1,651 | -11.3% | 3.5% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for January 2011:
| Region | Occupancy 2011 | Occupancy 2010 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 33.6% | 33.2% | +0.4 pp |
| Reykjanes | 28.2% | 30.4% | -2.2 pp |
| Total | 25.6% | 25.8% | -0.2 pp |
| South | 11.3% | 10.8% | +0.5 pp |
| North | 8.7% | 10.3% | -1.6 pp |
| East | 7.4% | 7.0% | +0.4 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 6.7% | 8.9% | -2.2 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in January 2011 was 2,635.23 million ISK (2.64 billion ISK), compared to 2,332.63 million ISK in January 2010.
This represents a +13.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 11,357 overnight stays in hotels in January 2011, down 11.4% from 12,813 in 2010.
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