Summary
January 2018 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 263,293 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 263,370 in January 2017—a -0.0% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 55.7%, down 6.5 percentage points from 62.2% in 2017. Foreign card spending totaled 15.8 billion ISK (-11.3% YoY).
January 2018 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through January, reached 263,293, down 0.0% on the same period of 2017. Within 2018, 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 75.9%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 33.8% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 67.0%. Hotel occupancy of 55.7% 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 2018, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2018 | Nights 2017 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 88,922 | 91,420 | -2.7% | 33.8% |
| 2 | United States of America | 67,896 | 65,853 | +3.1% | 25.8% |
| 3 | China | 19,591 | 18,116 | +8.1% | 7.4% |
| 4 | Germany | 11,950 | 15,891 | -24.8% | 4.5% |
| 5 | France | 9,664 | 8,089 | +19.5% | 3.7% |
| 6 | Other Asian countries | 7,918 | 6,342 | +24.9% | 3.0% |
| 7 | Japan | 7,636 | 11,818 | -35.4% | 2.9% |
| 8 | Australia | 5,663 | 4,057 | +39.6% | 2.2% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 5,371 | 5,737 | -6.4% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Spain | 4,105 | 3,387 | +21.2% | 1.6% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for January 2018:
| Region | Occupancy 2018 | Occupancy 2017 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 73.4% | 82.6% | -9.2 pp |
| Total | 55.7% | 62.2% | -6.5 pp |
| Reykjanes | 54.7% | 65.7% | -11.0 pp |
| South | 44.3% | 44.6% | -0.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 21.3% | 26.7% | -5.4 pp |
| North | 21.2% | 16.7% | +4.5 pp |
| East | 11.7% | 10.2% | +1.5 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in January 2018 was 15,834.18 million ISK (15.83 billion ISK), compared to 17,847.41 million ISK in January 2017.
This represents a -11.3% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 27,163 overnight stays in hotels in January 2018, up 7.0% from 25,375 in 2017.
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