Summary
January 2016 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 172,948 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 137,616 in January 2015—a +25.7% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 49.6%, down 0.4 percentage points from 50.0% in 2015. Foreign card spending totaled 11.7 billion ISK (+60.2% YoY).
January 2016 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through January, reached 172,948, up 25.7% on the same period of 2015. Within 2016, 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 109.5%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 40.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 70.7%. Hotel occupancy of 49.6% 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 2016, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2016 | Nights 2015 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 70,194 | 60,120 | +16.8% | 40.6% |
| 2 | United States of America | 39,022 | 27,240 | +43.3% | 22.6% |
| 3 | Germany | 13,062 | 8,702 | +50.1% | 7.6% |
| 4 | France | 6,959 | 5,872 | +18.5% | 4.0% |
| 5 | Japan | 4,836 | 5,804 | -16.7% | 2.8% |
| 6 | China | 4,754 | 1,268 | +274.9% | 2.7% |
| 7 | Sweden | 3,669 | 3,932 | -6.7% | 2.1% |
| 8 | Norway | 3,414 | 2,855 | +19.6% | 2.0% |
| 9 | Canada | 3,391 | 2,560 | +32.5% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 3,327 | 3,672 | -9.4% | 1.9% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for January 2016:
| Region | Occupancy 2016 | Occupancy 2015 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 71.5% | 72.7% | -1.2 pp |
| Total | 49.6% | 50.0% | -0.4 pp |
| Reykjanes | 39.7% | 37.3% | +2.4 pp |
| South | 23.5% | 18.8% | +4.7 pp |
| North | 17.0% | 17.6% | -0.6 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 15.8% | 24.9% | -9.1 pp |
| East | 7.4% | 5.9% | +1.5 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in January 2016 was 11,657.25 million ISK (11.66 billion ISK), compared to 7,277.26 million ISK in January 2015.
This represents a +60.2% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 25,622 overnight stays in hotels in January 2016, up 24.7% from 20,542 in 2015.
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