Summary
January 2019 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 248,194 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 263,293 in January 2018—a -5.7% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 49.2%, down 6.5 percentage points from 55.7% in 2018. Foreign card spending totaled 15.1 billion ISK (-4.6% YoY).
January 2019 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through January, reached 248,194, down 5.7% on the same period of 2018. Within 2019, 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 32.5%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 33.1% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 65.4%. Hotel occupancy of 49.2% 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 2019, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2019 | Nights 2018 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 82,276 | 88,922 | -7.5% | 33.1% |
| 2 | United States of America | 59,096 | 67,896 | -13.0% | 23.8% |
| 3 | China | 20,839 | 19,591 | +6.4% | 8.4% |
| 4 | Germany | 12,226 | 11,950 | +2.3% | 4.9% |
| 5 | France | 9,158 | 9,664 | -5.2% | 3.7% |
| 6 | Other Asian countries | 6,560 | 7,918 | -17.2% | 2.6% |
| 7 | Australia | 5,342 | 5,663 | -5.7% | 2.2% |
| 8 | Denmark | 5,128 | 3,546 | +44.6% | 2.1% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 4,503 | 5,371 | -16.2% | 1.8% |
| 10 | Sweden | 4,088 | 2,384 | +71.5% | 1.6% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for January 2019:
| Region | Occupancy 2019 | Occupancy 2018 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 66.2% | 73.4% | -7.2 pp |
| Reykjanes | 52.0% | 54.7% | -2.7 pp |
| Total | 49.2% | 55.7% | -6.5 pp |
| South | 34.8% | 44.3% | -9.5 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 21.4% | 21.3% | +0.1 pp |
| North | 19.2% | 21.2% | -2.0 pp |
| East | 13.9% | 11.7% | +2.2 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in January 2019 was 15,103.87 million ISK (15.10 billion ISK), compared to 15,834.18 million ISK in January 2018.
This represents a -4.6% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 23,872 overnight stays in hotels in January 2019, down 12.1% from 27,163 in 2018.
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