Summary
January 2014 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 99,599 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 75,087 in January 2013—a +32.6% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 43.4%, up 7.6 percentage points from 35.8% in 2013. Foreign card spending totaled 5.5 billion ISK (+26.1% YoY).
January 2014 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through January, reached 99,599, up 32.6% on the same period of 2013. Within 2014, 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 91.5%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 44.0% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 68.6%. Hotel occupancy of 43.4% 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 2014, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2014 | Nights 2013 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 43,794 | 32,218 | +35.9% | 44.0% |
| 2 | United States of America | 18,940 | 12,127 | +56.2% | 19.0% |
| 3 | Sweden | 5,565 | 2,129 | +161.4% | 5.6% |
| 4 | Germany | 5,558 | 5,702 | -2.5% | 5.6% |
| 5 | Japan | 4,023 | 3,766 | +6.8% | 4.0% |
| 6 | France | 3,787 | 2,468 | +53.4% | 3.8% |
| 7 | Norway | 3,216 | 3,270 | -1.7% | 3.2% |
| 8 | Denmark | 2,962 | 2,599 | +14.0% | 3.0% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 1,855 | 1,668 | +11.2% | 1.9% |
| 10 | Russia | 1,412 | 1,598 | -11.6% | 1.4% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for January 2014:
| Region | Occupancy 2014 | Occupancy 2013 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 59.3% | 48.6% | +10.7 pp |
| Total | 43.4% | 35.8% | +7.6 pp |
| Reykjanes | 32.9% | 31.0% | +1.9 pp |
| South | 20.3% | 14.8% | +5.5 pp |
| North | 17.0% | 17.1% | -0.1 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 16.4% | 14.2% | +2.2 pp |
| East | 7.4% | 4.4% | +3.0 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in January 2014 was 5,489.52 million ISK (5.49 billion ISK), compared to 4,352.83 million ISK in January 2013.
This represents a +26.1% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 19,923 overnight stays in hotels in January 2014, up 24.1% from 16,058 in 2013.
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