Summary
November 2002 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 30,627 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 32,274 in November 2001—a -5.1% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 38.5%, down 0.9 percentage points from 39.4% in 2001. Foreign card spending totaled 0.6 billion ISK (0.0% YoY).
November 2002 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through November, reached 621,869, up 3.9% on the same period of 2001. Within 2002, November ranked 10th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for November over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 9.2%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 22.8% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 53.3%. Hotel occupancy of 38.5% 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 November 2002, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2002 | Nights 2001 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 6,989 | 7,271 | -3.9% | 22.8% |
| 2 | United States of America | 5,728 | 6,767 | -15.4% | 18.7% |
| 3 | Norway | 3,614 | 4,711 | -23.3% | 11.8% |
| 4 | Sweden | 3,215 | 3,735 | -13.9% | 10.5% |
| 5 | Denmark | 2,909 | 2,361 | +23.2% | 9.5% |
| 6 | Germany | 1,547 | 2,542 | -39.1% | 5.1% |
| 7 | Other European countries | 1,375 | 806 | +70.6% | 4.5% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 1,243 | 1,049 | +18.5% | 4.1% |
| 9 | France | 1,236 | 1,056 | +17.0% | 4.0% |
| 10 | Finland | 729 | 903 | -19.3% | 2.4% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for November 2002:
| Region | Occupancy 2002 | Occupancy 2001 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 54.8% | 56.4% | -1.6 pp |
| Total | 38.5% | 39.4% | -0.9 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 25.1% | 20.0% | +5.1 pp |
| East | 21.7% | 21.6% | +0.1 pp |
| South | 19.4% | 16.0% | +3.4 pp |
| North | 16.4% | 14.5% | +1.9 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in November 2002 was 643 million ISK (0.64 billion ISK), compared to 0 million ISK in November 2001.
This represents a 0.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 15,110 overnight stays in hotels in November 2002, up 12.8% from 13,394 in 2001.
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