Summary
July 2026 was part of Iceland's peak summer season, characterized by midnight sun and maximum tourist activity. Foreign guests recorded 593,317 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 588,559 in July 2025—a +0.8% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 87.9%, up 0.1 percentage points from 87.8% in 2025. Foreign card spending totaled 53.7 billion ISK (+6.1% YoY).
July 2026 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through July, reached 2,751,462, up 0.9% on the same period of 2025. Against the average for July over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 14.9%. Compared with July 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 26.7%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 34.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 50.5%. Hotel occupancy of 87.9% 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 2026, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2026 | Nights 2025 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 205,313 | 213,530 | -3.8% | 34.6% |
| 2 | Germany | 53,262 | 55,240 | -3.6% | 9.0% |
| 3 | China | 41,310 | 35,805 | +15.4% | 7.0% |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 34,277 | 32,868 | +4.3% | 5.8% |
| 5 | France | 23,573 | 24,918 | -5.4% | 4.0% |
| 6 | Italy | 22,354 | 21,442 | +4.3% | 3.8% |
| 7 | Canada | 20,184 | 19,511 | +3.4% | 3.4% |
| 8 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 19,689 | 19,017 | +3.5% | 3.3% |
| 9 | Spain | 19,064 | 19,463 | -2.1% | 3.2% |
| 10 | Other Asian countries | 15,107 | 16,209 | -6.8% | 2.5% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for July 2026:
| Region | Occupancy 2026 | Occupancy 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| South | 92.9% | 92.8% | +0.1 pp |
| East | 92.0% | 91.1% | +0.9 pp |
| Reykjanes | 89.7% | 83.8% | +5.9 pp |
| Total | 87.9% | 87.8% | +0.1 pp |
| Capital Region | 87.2% | 87.7% | -0.5 pp |
| North | 83.1% | 85.5% | -2.4 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 79.2% | 78.3% | +0.9 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in July 2026 was 53,665.8 million ISK (53.67 billion ISK), compared to 50,558.58 million ISK in July 2025.
This represents a +6.1% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 55,175 overnight stays in hotels in July 2026, down 8.1% from 60,068 in 2025.
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