Summary
November 2020 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 8,680 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 285,672 in November 2019—a -97.0% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 7.5%, down 50.4 percentage points from 57.9% in 2019. Foreign card spending totaled 1.6 billion ISK (-87.8% YoY).
November 2020 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through November, reached 987,583, down 74.1% on the same period of 2019. Within 2020, November ranked 9th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for November over the five preceding years, this month came in behind by 96.6%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 49.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 64.1%. Hotel occupancy of 7.5% 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 2020, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2020 | Nights 2019 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 4,308 | 79,256 | -94.6% | 49.6% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 667 | 73,527 | -99.1% | 7.7% |
| 3 | Italy | 589 | 3,669 | -83.9% | 6.8% |
| 4 | Denmark | 349 | 7,507 | -95.4% | 4.0% |
| 5 | Poland | 303 | 1,711 | -82.3% | 3.5% |
| 6 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 269 | 2,851 | -90.6% | 3.1% |
| 7 | France | 265 | 11,824 | -97.8% | 3.1% |
| 8 | Germany | 257 | 15,227 | -98.3% | 3.0% |
| 9 | Norway | 181 | 3,940 | -95.4% | 2.1% |
| 10 | Latvia | 160 | 298 | -46.3% | 1.8% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for November 2020:
| Region | Occupancy 2020 | Occupancy 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjanes | 15.5% | 47.3% | -31.8 pp |
| East | 8.3% | 20.2% | -11.9 pp |
| Capital Region | 7.7% | 76.2% | -68.5 pp |
| Total | 7.5% | 57.9% | -50.4 pp |
| South | 6.1% | 48.9% | -42.8 pp |
| North | 4.9% | 28.3% | -23.4 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 4.3% | 32.3% | -28.0 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in November 2020 was 1,627.59 million ISK (1.63 billion ISK), compared to 13,392.46 million ISK in November 2019.
This represents a -87.8% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 16,708 overnight stays in hotels in November 2020, down 62.0% from 43,926 in 2019.
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