Summary
March 2006 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 47,795 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 45,157 in March 2005—a +5.8% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 42.1%, up 5.7 percentage points from 36.4% in 2005. Foreign card spending totaled 1.0 billion ISK (+19.1% YoY).
March 2006 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through March, reached 112,941, up 5.4% on the same period of 2005. Within 2006, March ranked 9th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for March over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 5.7%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 22.8% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 48.6%. Hotel occupancy of 42.1% 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 March 2006, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2006 | Nights 2005 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 10,889 | 11,825 | -7.9% | 22.8% |
| 2 | United States of America | 6,347 | 5,881 | +7.9% | 13.3% |
| 3 | Norway | 6,004 | 3,749 | +60.1% | 12.6% |
| 4 | Denmark | 4,373 | 3,968 | +10.2% | 9.1% |
| 5 | Sweden | 3,762 | 3,962 | -5.0% | 7.9% |
| 6 | Germany | 3,637 | 4,002 | -9.1% | 7.6% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 2,484 | 1,740 | +42.8% | 5.2% |
| 8 | France | 2,439 | 2,022 | +20.6% | 5.1% |
| 9 | Other European countries | 2,159 | 1,243 | +73.7% | 4.5% |
| 10 | Japan | 1,617 | 1,472 | +9.9% | 3.4% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for March 2006:
| Region | Occupancy 2006 | Occupancy 2005 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 52.1% | 50.2% | +1.9 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 48.2% | 22.9% | +25.3 pp |
| Total | 42.1% | 36.4% | +5.7 pp |
| South | 26.4% | 18.4% | +8.0 pp |
| North | 20.7% | 23.9% | -3.2 pp |
| East | 14.7% | 19.0% | -4.3 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in March 2006 was 971.33 million ISK (0.97 billion ISK), compared to 815.37 million ISK in March 2005.
This represents a +19.1% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 25,860 overnight stays in hotels in March 2006, up 29.1% from 20,024 in 2005.
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