Summary
November 2023 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 312,394 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 300,102 in November 2022—a +4.1% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 58.6%, up 0.7 percentage points from 57.9% in 2022. Foreign card spending totaled 18.6 billion ISK (+11.6% YoY).
November 2023 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through November, reached 4,332,177, up 15.7% on the same period of 2022. Within 2023, November ranked 9th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for November over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 11.8%. Compared with November 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 9.4%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 30.2% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 63.7%. Hotel occupancy of 58.6% 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 2023, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2023 | Nights 2022 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 94,418 | 92,399 | +2.2% | 30.2% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 85,614 | 84,045 | +1.9% | 27.4% |
| 3 | Germany | 18,902 | 21,700 | -12.9% | 6.1% |
| 4 | Other Asian countries | 11,691 | 8,015 | +45.9% | 3.7% |
| 5 | China | 11,367 | 5,019 | +126.5% | 3.6% |
| 6 | France | 10,758 | 12,769 | -15.7% | 3.4% |
| 7 | Spain | 7,514 | 7,061 | +6.4% | 2.4% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 7,328 | 6,132 | +19.5% | 2.3% |
| 9 | Canada | 6,359 | 5,519 | +15.2% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Italy | 6,294 | 5,646 | +11.5% | 2.0% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for November 2023:
| Region | Occupancy 2023 | Occupancy 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 74.5% | 76.3% | -1.8 pp |
| South | 58.7% | 53.9% | +4.8 pp |
| Total | 58.6% | 57.9% | +0.7 pp |
| Reykjanes | 53.7% | 47.3% | +6.4 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 32.8% | 31.4% | +1.4 pp |
| North | 24.7% | 24.3% | +0.4 pp |
| East | 24.1% | 21.1% | +3.0 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in November 2023 was 18,604.17 million ISK (18.60 billion ISK), compared to 16,663.17 million ISK in November 2022.
This represents a +11.6% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 51,058 overnight stays in hotels in November 2023, down 7.4% from 55,130 in 2022.
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