Summary
October 2015 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 212,548 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 149,479 in October 2014—a +42.2% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 60.6%, up 2.7 percentage points from 57.9% in 2014. Foreign card spending totaled 10.4 billion ISK (+45.5% YoY).
October 2015 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through October, reached 2,202,442, up 27.7% on the same period of 2014. Within 2015, October ranked 5th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for October over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 95.3%.
United Kingdom was the largest source market with 28.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 56.5%. Hotel occupancy of 60.6% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; this is a healthy shoulder-season level with capacity still available outside the capital. 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 2015, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2015 | Nights 2014 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 60,857 | 47,238 | +28.8% | 28.6% |
| 2 | United States of America | 40,759 | 25,810 | +57.9% | 19.2% |
| 3 | Germany | 18,444 | 9,958 | +85.2% | 8.7% |
| 4 | Norway | 11,311 | 8,246 | +37.2% | 5.3% |
| 5 | Sweden | 10,605 | 7,581 | +39.9% | 5.0% |
| 6 | Denmark | 8,961 | 6,811 | +31.6% | 4.2% |
| 7 | China | 8,289 | 2,763 | +200.0% | 3.9% |
| 8 | France | 5,848 | 5,737 | +1.9% | 2.8% |
| 9 | Japan | 4,778 | 2,759 | +73.2% | 2.2% |
| 10 | Canada | 4,596 | 5,106 | -10.0% | 2.2% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for October 2015:
| Region | Occupancy 2015 | Occupancy 2014 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 76.0% | 77.2% | -1.2 pp |
| Reykjanes | 61.1% | 48.4% | +12.7 pp |
| Total | 60.6% | 57.9% | +2.7 pp |
| South | 48.5% | 36.2% | +12.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 34.1% | 26.8% | +7.3 pp |
| North | 32.4% | 37.7% | -5.3 pp |
| East | 14.9% | 16.1% | -1.2 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in October 2015 was 10,448.13 million ISK (10.45 billion ISK), compared to 7,181.25 million ISK in October 2014.
This represents a +45.5% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 30,437 overnight stays in hotels in October 2015, down 8.5% from 33,255 in 2014.
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