Summary
October 2022 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 399,613 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 294,723 in October 2021—a +35.6% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 73.0%, up 11.3 percentage points from 61.7% in 2021. Foreign card spending totaled 20.8 billion ISK (+35.4% YoY).
October 2022 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through October, reached 3,443,744, up 138.0% on the same period of 2021. Within 2022, October ranked 5th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for October over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 26.6%. Compared with October 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 5.4%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 34.2% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 63.2%. Hotel occupancy of 73.0% 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 2022, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2022 | Nights 2021 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 136,507 | 110,589 | +23.4% | 34.2% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 81,991 | 48,348 | +69.6% | 20.5% |
| 3 | Germany | 34,200 | 34,224 | -0.1% | 8.6% |
| 4 | France | 14,229 | 11,645 | +22.2% | 3.6% |
| 5 | Spain | 11,463 | 10,309 | +11.2% | 2.9% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 10,902 | 11,056 | -1.4% | 2.7% |
| 7 | Canada | 10,348 | 4,177 | +147.7% | 2.6% |
| 8 | Other Asian countries | 9,103 | 2,304 | +295.1% | 2.3% |
| 9 | Italy | 8,887 | 8,248 | +7.7% | 2.2% |
| 10 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 8,542 | 6,250 | +36.7% | 2.1% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for October 2022:
| Region | Occupancy 2022 | Occupancy 2021 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 84.3% | 71.9% | +12.4 pp |
| South | 76.4% | 57.3% | +19.1 pp |
| Total | 73.0% | 61.7% | +11.3 pp |
| Reykjanes | 68.0% | 66.4% | +1.6 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 54.3% | 40.4% | +13.9 pp |
| North | 44.8% | 46.1% | -1.3 pp |
| East | 44.0% | 37.1% | +6.9 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in October 2022 was 20,759.68 million ISK (20.76 billion ISK), compared to 15,334.2 million ISK in October 2021.
This represents a +35.4% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 70,565 overnight stays in hotels in October 2022, down 5.5% from 74,690 in 2021.
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