Summary
March 2026 was part of Iceland's winter season, prime time for northern lights and ice cave tours. Foreign guests recorded 383,521 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 367,303 in March 2025—a +4.4% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 61.8%, down 0.6 percentage points from 62.4% in 2025. Foreign card spending totaled 24.7 billion ISK (-1.0% YoY).
March 2026 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through March, reached 982,323, up 3.0% on the same period of 2025. Against the average for March over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 11.0%. Compared with March 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 12.1%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 25.0% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 52.6%. Hotel occupancy of 61.8% 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 2026, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2026 | Nights 2025 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 95,878 | 111,714 | -14.2% | 25.0% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 69,535 | 61,623 | +12.8% | 18.1% |
| 3 | China | 36,411 | 24,778 | +46.9% | 9.5% |
| 4 | Germany | 27,313 | 27,317 | -0.0% | 7.1% |
| 5 | Other Asian countries | 23,013 | 18,463 | +24.6% | 6.0% |
| 6 | France | 15,863 | 17,391 | -8.8% | 4.1% |
| 7 | Italy | 14,678 | 12,234 | +20.0% | 3.8% |
| 8 | Spain | 13,502 | 9,648 | +39.9% | 3.5% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 9,936 | 10,402 | -4.5% | 2.6% |
| 10 | Canada | 6,236 | 5,320 | +17.2% | 1.6% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for March 2026:
| Region | Occupancy 2026 | Occupancy 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 71.8% | 73.2% | -1.4 pp |
| Reykjanes | 70.0% | 60.8% | +9.2 pp |
| South | 64.8% | 67.5% | -2.7 pp |
| Total | 61.8% | 62.4% | -0.6 pp |
| North | 36.1% | 37.1% | -1.0 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 34.2% | 36.7% | -2.5 pp |
| East | 27.8% | 31.2% | -3.4 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in March 2026 was 24,728.17 million ISK (24.73 billion ISK), compared to 24,975.31 million ISK in March 2025.
This represents a -1.0% year-over-year change. Despite growth in overnight stays in hotels, spending declined—possibly reflecting lower per-visitor expenditure or shifts in spending patterns.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 45,890 overnight stays in hotels in March 2026, down 13.0% from 52,731 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