Summary
October 2020 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 13,731 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 378,966 in October 2019—a -96.4% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 10.2%, down 58.3 percentage points from 68.5% in 2019. Foreign card spending totaled 1.7 billion ISK (-90.4% YoY).
October 2020 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through October, reached 978,903, down 72.3% on the same period of 2019. Within 2020, October ranked 8th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for October over the five preceding years, this month came in behind by 95.6%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 32.7% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 51.9%. Hotel occupancy of 10.2% 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 2020, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2020 | Nights 2019 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 4,486 | 120,429 | -96.3% | 32.7% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 1,335 | 58,585 | -97.7% | 9.7% |
| 3 | Germany | 1,304 | 28,300 | -95.4% | 9.5% |
| 4 | Poland | 804 | 1,818 | -55.8% | 5.9% |
| 5 | Italy | 734 | 4,412 | -83.4% | 5.3% |
| 6 | France | 584 | 16,549 | -96.5% | 4.3% |
| 7 | Denmark | 441 | 11,143 | -96.0% | 3.2% |
| 8 | Canada | 382 | 7,558 | -94.9% | 2.8% |
| 9 | Norway | 346 | 5,615 | -93.8% | 2.5% |
| 10 | Spain | 340 | 10,387 | -96.7% | 2.5% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for October 2020:
| Region | Occupancy 2020 | Occupancy 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjanes | 19.1% | 70.3% | -51.2 pp |
| East | 12.9% | 48.4% | -35.5 pp |
| North | 11.5% | 51.2% | -39.7 pp |
| Total | 10.2% | 68.5% | -58.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 10.0% | 46.5% | -36.5 pp |
| Capital Region | 9.2% | 77.5% | -68.3 pp |
| South | 7.1% | 68.3% | -61.2 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in October 2020 was 1,677.45 million ISK (1.68 billion ISK), compared to 17,515.49 million ISK in October 2019.
This represents a -90.4% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 27,486 overnight stays in hotels in October 2020, down 30.7% from 39,639 in 2019.
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