Summary
November 2025 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 312,283 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 324,859 in November 2024—a -3.9% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 57.0%, down 4.8 percentage points from 61.8% in 2024. Foreign card spending totaled 19.2 billion ISK (-8.6% YoY).
November 2025 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through November, reached 4,600,597, up 10.2% on the same period of 2024. Within 2025, November ranked 10th 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 4.7%. Compared with November 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 9.3%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 25.5% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 55.6%. Hotel occupancy of 57.0% 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 2025, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2025 | Nights 2024 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 79,729 | 101,930 | -21.8% | 25.5% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 66,199 | 71,834 | -7.8% | 21.2% |
| 3 | China | 27,768 | 17,596 | +57.8% | 8.9% |
| 4 | Other Asian countries | 20,879 | 16,474 | +26.7% | 6.7% |
| 5 | Germany | 15,677 | 17,045 | -8.0% | 5.0% |
| 6 | Italy | 9,773 | 7,518 | +30.0% | 3.1% |
| 7 | France | 9,136 | 10,997 | -16.9% | 2.9% |
| 8 | Spain | 8,229 | 9,372 | -12.2% | 2.6% |
| 9 | Other South and Central American countries | 6,931 | 6,238 | +11.1% | 2.2% |
| 10 | Canada | 6,836 | 5,108 | +33.8% | 2.2% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for November 2025:
| Region | Occupancy 2025 | Occupancy 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 69.4% | 75.5% | -6.1 pp |
| Reykjanes | 65.6% | 59.7% | +5.9 pp |
| Total | 57.0% | 61.8% | -4.8 pp |
| South | 55.3% | 61.3% | -6.0 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 29.5% | 34.1% | -4.6 pp |
| North | 27.8% | 30.4% | -2.6 pp |
| East | 24.7% | 34.2% | -9.5 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in November 2025 was 19,168.01 million ISK (19.17 billion ISK), compared to 20,965.78 million ISK in November 2024.
This represents a -8.6% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 50,543 overnight stays in hotels in November 2025, down 23.2% from 65,847 in 2024.
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