Summary
November 2015 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 181,169 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 131,733 in November 2014—a +37.5% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 55.4%, up 2.2 percentage points from 53.2% in 2014. Foreign card spending totaled 9.2 billion ISK (+40.8% YoY).
November 2015 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through November, reached 2,383,611, up 28.4% on the same period of 2014. Within 2015, November ranked 8th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for November over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 109.8%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 36.5% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 68.0%. Hotel occupancy of 55.4% 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 2015, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2015 | Nights 2014 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 66,161 | 47,646 | +38.9% | 36.5% |
| 2 | United States of America | 43,319 | 30,163 | +43.6% | 23.9% |
| 3 | Germany | 13,751 | 6,940 | +98.1% | 7.6% |
| 4 | Japan | 5,600 | 2,733 | +104.9% | 3.1% |
| 5 | Sweden | 5,014 | 4,520 | +10.9% | 2.8% |
| 6 | Denmark | 4,938 | 4,725 | +4.5% | 2.7% |
| 7 | China | 4,474 | 1,110 | +303.1% | 2.5% |
| 8 | France | 4,452 | 4,696 | -5.2% | 2.5% |
| 9 | Norway | 4,445 | 4,572 | -2.8% | 2.5% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 4,188 | 2,425 | +72.7% | 2.3% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for November 2015:
| Region | Occupancy 2015 | Occupancy 2014 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 75.8% | 74.7% | +1.1 pp |
| Total | 55.4% | 53.2% | +2.2 pp |
| Reykjanes | 44.9% | 47.7% | -2.8 pp |
| South | 30.2% | 25.4% | +4.8 pp |
| North | 24.0% | 23.5% | +0.5 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 23.5% | 21.7% | +1.8 pp |
| East | 10.9% | 10.2% | +0.7 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in November 2015 was 9,150.45 million ISK (9.15 billion ISK), compared to 6,500.16 million ISK in November 2014.
This represents a +40.8% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 25,308 overnight stays in hotels in November 2015, down 5.8% from 26,871 in 2014.
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