Summary
January 2020 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 265,697 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 248,194 in January 2019—a +7.1% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 48.9%, down 0.3 percentage points from 49.2% in 2019. Foreign card spending totaled 14.0 billion ISK (-7.6% YoY).
January 2020 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through January, reached 265,697, up 7.1% on the same period of 2019. Within 2020, January ranked 2nd of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for January over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 22.4%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 28.4% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 62.8%. Hotel occupancy of 48.9% 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 2020, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2020 | Nights 2019 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 75,470 | 82,276 | -8.3% | 28.4% |
| 2 | United States of America | 54,807 | 59,096 | -7.3% | 20.6% |
| 3 | China | 36,453 | 20,839 | +74.9% | 13.7% |
| 4 | Germany | 15,181 | 12,226 | +24.2% | 5.7% |
| 5 | France | 12,520 | 9,158 | +36.7% | 4.7% |
| 6 | Other Asian countries | 5,965 | 6,560 | -9.1% | 2.2% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 5,887 | 4,503 | +30.7% | 2.2% |
| 8 | Australia | 5,786 | 5,342 | +8.3% | 2.2% |
| 9 | Denmark | 5,360 | 5,128 | +4.5% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Japan | 5,262 | 3,237 | +62.6% | 2.0% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for January 2020:
| Region | Occupancy 2020 | Occupancy 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 66.5% | 66.2% | +0.3 pp |
| Reykjanes | 50.6% | 52.0% | -1.4 pp |
| Total | 48.9% | 49.2% | -0.3 pp |
| South | 37.1% | 34.8% | +2.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 20.5% | 21.4% | -0.9 pp |
| East | 16.0% | 13.9% | +2.1 pp |
| North | 14.4% | 19.2% | -4.8 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in January 2020 was 13,957.99 million ISK (13.96 billion ISK), compared to 15,103.87 million ISK in January 2019.
This represents a -7.6% year-over-year change. Despite growth in overnight stays in hotels, spending declined—possibly reflecting lower per-visitor expenditure or shifts in spending patterns.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 26,396 overnight stays in hotels in January 2020, up 10.6% from 23,872 in 2019.
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