Summary
March 2022 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 279,253 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 11,768 in March 2021—a +2273.0% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 54.3%, up 41.2 percentage points from 13.1% in 2021. Foreign card spending totaled 14.6 billion ISK (+619.9% YoY).
March 2022 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through March, reached 646,534, up 2369.4% on the same period of 2021. Within 2022, March ranked 7th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for March over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in behind by 4.0%. Compared with March 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were down 18.4%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 27.4% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 64.5%. Hotel occupancy of 54.3% 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 2022, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2022 | Nights 2021 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 76,477 | 2,303 | +3220.8% | 27.4% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 75,273 | 515 | +14516.1% | 27.0% |
| 3 | Germany | 28,272 | 1,692 | +1570.9% | 10.1% |
| 4 | France | 16,566 | 949 | +1645.6% | 5.9% |
| 5 | Netherlands | 11,194 | 159 | +6940.3% | 4.0% |
| 6 | Spain | 7,647 | 180 | +4148.3% | 2.7% |
| 7 | Denmark | 7,509 | 540 | +1290.6% | 2.7% |
| 8 | Italy | 6,939 | 1,772 | +291.6% | 2.5% |
| 9 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 5,507 | 151 | +3547.0% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Ireland | 3,688 | 35 | +10437.1% | 1.3% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for March 2022:
| Region | Occupancy 2022 | Occupancy 2021 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 67.8% | 13.2% | +54.6 pp |
| Total | 54.3% | 13.1% | +41.2 pp |
| South | 50.7% | 10.3% | +40.4 pp |
| Reykjanes | 46.0% | 10.2% | +35.8 pp |
| East | 40.7% | 5.8% | +34.9 pp |
| North | 37.8% | 22.8% | +15.0 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 25.2% | 12.8% | +12.4 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in March 2022 was 14,610.17 million ISK (14.61 billion ISK), compared to 2,029.59 million ISK in March 2021.
This represents a +619.9% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 55,422 overnight stays in hotels in March 2022, up 24.3% from 44,589 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