Summary
March 2023 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 368,016 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 279,253 in March 2022—a +31.8% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 65.0%, up 10.7 percentage points from 54.3% in 2022. Foreign card spending totaled 22.3 billion ISK (+52.7% YoY).
March 2023 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through March, reached 960,190, up 48.5% on the same period of 2022. Within 2023, March ranked 6th 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 ahead by 19.2%. Compared with March 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 7.6%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 29.7% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 63.9%. Hotel occupancy of 65.0% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; this is a healthy shoulder-season level with capacity still available outside the capital. 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 2023, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2023 | Nights 2022 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 109,368 | 76,477 | +43.0% | 29.7% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 92,486 | 75,273 | +22.9% | 25.1% |
| 3 | Germany | 33,252 | 28,272 | +17.6% | 9.0% |
| 4 | France | 18,579 | 16,566 | +12.2% | 5.0% |
| 5 | Netherlands | 12,538 | 11,194 | +12.0% | 3.4% |
| 6 | Other Asian countries | 10,666 | 2,631 | +305.4% | 2.9% |
| 7 | Italy | 9,911 | 6,939 | +42.8% | 2.7% |
| 8 | China | 8,799 | 3,230 | +172.4% | 2.4% |
| 9 | Spain | 7,438 | 7,647 | -2.7% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Denmark | 6,078 | 7,509 | -19.1% | 1.7% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for March 2023:
| Region | Occupancy 2023 | Occupancy 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 78.7% | 67.8% | +10.9 pp |
| South | 70.0% | 50.7% | +19.3 pp |
| Total | 65.0% | 54.3% | +10.7 pp |
| Reykjanes | 53.7% | 46.0% | +7.7 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 37.8% | 25.2% | +12.6 pp |
| North | 35.9% | 37.8% | -1.9 pp |
| East | 34.2% | 40.7% | -6.5 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in March 2023 was 22,303.72 million ISK (22.30 billion ISK), compared to 14,610.17 million ISK in March 2022.
This represents a +52.7% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 56,687 overnight stays in hotels in March 2023, up 2.3% from 55,422 in 2022.
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