Summary
November 2021 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 214,375 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 8,680 in November 2020—a +2369.8% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 44.1%, up 36.6 percentage points from 7.5% in 2020. Foreign card spending totaled 10.8 billion ISK (+562.2% YoY).
November 2021 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through November, reached 1,661,414, up 68.2% on the same period of 2020. Within 2021, November ranked 5th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for November over the five preceding years, this month came in behind by 16.1%. Compared with November 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were down 25.0%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 31.8% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 66.1%. Hotel occupancy of 44.1% 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 2021, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2021 | Nights 2020 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 68,248 | 4,308 | +1484.2% | 31.8% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 53,532 | 667 | +7925.8% | 25.0% |
| 3 | Germany | 19,964 | 257 | +7668.1% | 9.3% |
| 4 | France | 13,464 | 265 | +4980.8% | 6.3% |
| 5 | Netherlands | 6,442 | 63 | +10125.4% | 3.0% |
| 6 | Spain | 5,908 | 141 | +4090.1% | 2.8% |
| 7 | Denmark | 5,341 | 349 | +1430.4% | 2.5% |
| 8 | Italy | 4,588 | 589 | +678.9% | 2.1% |
| 9 | Sweden | 3,241 | 141 | +2198.6% | 1.5% |
| 10 | Belgium | 3,227 | 69 | +4576.8% | 1.5% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for November 2021:
| Region | Occupancy 2021 | Occupancy 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 58.2% | 7.7% | +50.5 pp |
| Total | 44.1% | 7.5% | +36.6 pp |
| Reykjanes | 40.3% | 15.5% | +24.8 pp |
| South | 38.3% | 6.1% | +32.2 pp |
| North | 22.9% | 4.9% | +18.0 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 20.6% | 4.3% | +16.3 pp |
| East | 15.1% | 8.3% | +6.8 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in November 2021 was 10,777.67 million ISK (10.78 billion ISK), compared to 1,627.59 million ISK in November 2020.
This represents a +562.2% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 45,152 overnight stays in hotels in November 2021, up 170.2% from 16,708 in 2020.
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