Summary
January 2024 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 255,083 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 268,917 in January 2023—a -5.1% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 44.4%, down 7.1 percentage points from 51.5% in 2023. Foreign card spending totaled 17.0 billion ISK (+1.4% YoY).
January 2024 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through January, reached 255,083, down 5.1% on the same period of 2023. Within 2024, January ranked 12th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for January over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 8.0%. Compared with January 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 2.8%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 28.2% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 60.6%. Hotel occupancy of 44.4% 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 2024, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2024 | Nights 2023 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 71,970 | 89,642 | -19.7% | 28.2% |
| 2 | United States of America | 65,312 | 63,267 | +3.2% | 25.6% |
| 3 | Germany | 17,289 | 19,046 | -9.2% | 6.8% |
| 4 | France | 14,505 | 11,265 | +28.8% | 5.7% |
| 5 | China | 13,912 | 10,202 | +36.4% | 5.5% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 8,028 | 7,248 | +10.8% | 3.1% |
| 7 | Italy | 7,369 | 6,894 | +6.9% | 2.9% |
| 8 | Other Asian countries | 6,185 | 6,144 | +0.7% | 2.4% |
| 9 | Spain | 5,114 | 5,343 | -4.3% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Denmark | 4,379 | 4,557 | -3.9% | 1.7% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for January 2024:
| Region | Occupancy 2024 | Occupancy 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 63.4% | 71.0% | -7.6 pp |
| Total | 44.4% | 51.5% | -7.1 pp |
| Reykjanes | 38.2% | 39.9% | -1.7 pp |
| South | 36.6% | 41.2% | -4.6 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 14.5% | 16.8% | -2.3 pp |
| North | 10.2% | 16.9% | -6.7 pp |
| East | 9.5% | 15.8% | -6.3 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in January 2024 was 17,003.41 million ISK (17.00 billion ISK), compared to 16,776.26 million ISK in January 2023.
This represents a +1.4% year-over-year change. Spending increased even as overnight stays declined, suggesting higher per-visitor expenditure.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 32,907 overnight stays in hotels in January 2024, down 24.9% from 43,822 in 2023.
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