Summary
January 2017 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 263,370 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 172,948 in January 2016—a +52.3% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 62.2%, up 12.6 percentage points from 49.6% in 2016. Foreign card spending totaled 17.8 billion ISK (+53.1% YoY).
January 2017 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through January, reached 263,370, up 52.3% on the same period of 2016. Within 2017, January ranked 11th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for January over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 142.3%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 34.7% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 66.6%. Hotel occupancy of 62.2% 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 January 2017, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2017 | Nights 2016 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 91,420 | 70,194 | +30.2% | 34.7% |
| 2 | United States of America | 65,853 | 39,022 | +68.8% | 25.0% |
| 3 | China | 18,116 | 4,754 | +281.1% | 6.9% |
| 4 | Germany | 15,891 | 13,062 | +21.7% | 6.0% |
| 5 | Japan | 11,818 | 4,836 | +144.4% | 4.5% |
| 6 | France | 8,089 | 6,959 | +16.2% | 3.1% |
| 7 | Other Asian countries | 6,342 | 2,933 | +116.2% | 2.4% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 5,737 | 3,327 | +72.4% | 2.2% |
| 9 | Australia | 4,057 | 1,938 | +109.3% | 1.5% |
| 10 | Canada | 3,907 | 3,391 | +15.2% | 1.5% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for January 2017:
| Region | Occupancy 2017 | Occupancy 2016 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 82.6% | 71.5% | +11.1 pp |
| Reykjanes | 65.7% | 39.7% | +26.0 pp |
| Total | 62.2% | 49.6% | +12.6 pp |
| South | 44.6% | 23.5% | +21.1 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 26.7% | 15.8% | +10.9 pp |
| North | 16.7% | 17.0% | -0.3 pp |
| East | 10.2% | 7.4% | +2.8 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in January 2017 was 17,847.41 million ISK (17.85 billion ISK), compared to 11,657.25 million ISK in January 2016.
This represents a +53.1% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 25,375 overnight stays in hotels in January 2017, down 1.0% from 25,622 in 2016.
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