Summary
July 2022 was part of Iceland's peak summer season, characterized by midnight sun and maximum tourist activity. Foreign guests recorded 517,892 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 278,562 in July 2021—a +85.9% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 88.6%, up 19.7 percentage points from 68.9% in 2021. Foreign card spending totaled 37.4 billion ISK (+58.0% YoY).
July 2022 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through July, reached 2,099,121, up 324.1% on the same period of 2021. Within 2022, July ranked 2nd of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for July over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 23.0%. Compared with July 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 10.6%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 33.0% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 54.3%. Hotel occupancy of 88.6% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; at this level most hotels in the capital are effectively full on peak nights. 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 July 2022, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2022 | Nights 2021 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 171,068 | 129,397 | +32.2% | 33.0% |
| 2 | Germany | 68,386 | 30,237 | +126.2% | 13.2% |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 41,880 | 17,982 | +132.9% | 8.1% |
| 4 | France | 25,720 | 11,851 | +117.0% | 5.0% |
| 5 | Israel | 22,956 | 18,472 | +24.3% | 4.4% |
| 6 | Denmark | 21,996 | 7,575 | +190.4% | 4.2% |
| 7 | Italy | 19,985 | 8,115 | +146.3% | 3.9% |
| 8 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 16,435 | 9,641 | +70.5% | 3.2% |
| 9 | Spain | 16,433 | 4,746 | +246.2% | 3.2% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 16,042 | 5,314 | +201.9% | 3.1% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for July 2022:
| Region | Occupancy 2022 | Occupancy 2021 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| South | 91.0% | 68.1% | +22.9 pp |
| East | 90.8% | 80.9% | +9.9 pp |
| Capital Region | 90.7% | 66.5% | +24.2 pp |
| Total | 88.6% | 68.9% | +19.7 pp |
| North | 85.2% | 77.8% | +7.4 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 84.4% | 69.1% | +15.3 pp |
| Reykjanes | 78.9% | 64.3% | +14.6 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in July 2022 was 37,397.56 million ISK (37.40 billion ISK), compared to 23,666.68 million ISK in July 2021.
This represents a +58.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 77,563 overnight stays in hotels in July 2022, down 29.9% from 110,591 in 2021.
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