Summary
October 2012 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 106,039 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 89,857 in October 2011—a +18.0% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 51.7%, up 5.7 percentage points from 46.0% in 2011. Foreign card spending totaled 4.5 billion ISK (+26.4% YoY).
October 2012 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through October, reached 1,323,705, up 19.8% on the same period of 2011. Within 2012, October ranked 6th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for October over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 30.1%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 28.4% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 54.0%. Hotel occupancy of 51.7% 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 October 2012, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2012 | Nights 2011 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 30,113 | 22,416 | +34.3% | 28.4% |
| 2 | United States of America | 19,003 | 16,770 | +13.3% | 17.9% |
| 3 | Norway | 8,134 | 7,907 | +2.9% | 7.7% |
| 4 | Germany | 6,961 | 5,431 | +28.2% | 6.6% |
| 5 | Other European countries | 6,041 | 5,328 | +13.4% | 5.7% |
| 6 | Sweden | 6,001 | 5,407 | +11.0% | 5.7% |
| 7 | Denmark | 5,980 | 4,754 | +25.8% | 5.6% |
| 8 | France | 3,457 | 3,926 | -11.9% | 3.3% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 3,295 | 3,591 | -8.2% | 3.1% |
| 10 | Spain | 2,417 | 1,108 | +118.1% | 2.3% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for October 2012:
| Region | Occupancy 2012 | Occupancy 2011 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 68.7% | 59.6% | +9.1 pp |
| Total | 51.7% | 46.0% | +5.7 pp |
| Reykjanes | 45.7% | 45.5% | +0.2 pp |
| South | 34.0% | 28.3% | +5.7 pp |
| North | 30.7% | 21.2% | +9.5 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 21.2% | 17.3% | +3.9 pp |
| East | 12.3% | 17.9% | -5.6 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in October 2012 was 4,515.93 million ISK (4.52 billion ISK), compared to 3,573.77 million ISK in October 2011.
This represents a +26.4% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 27,531 overnight stays in hotels in October 2012, up 0.9% from 27,276 in 2011.
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