Summary
October 2023 was part of Iceland's autumn/winter transition with increasing northern lights activity. Foreign guests recorded 435,236 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 399,613 in October 2022—a +8.9% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 75.7%, up 2.7 percentage points from 73.0% in 2022. Foreign card spending totaled 27.4 billion ISK (+31.9% YoY).
October 2023 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through October, reached 4,019,783, up 16.7% on the same period of 2022. Within 2023, 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 23.3%. Compared with October 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 14.8%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 32.6% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 57.6%. Hotel occupancy of 75.7% 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 2023, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2023 | Nights 2022 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 141,955 | 136,507 | +4.0% | 32.6% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 73,609 | 81,991 | -10.2% | 16.9% |
| 3 | Germany | 35,324 | 34,200 | +3.3% | 8.1% |
| 4 | Other Asian countries | 21,551 | 9,103 | +136.7% | 5.0% |
| 5 | China | 19,815 | 4,172 | +375.0% | 4.6% |
| 6 | France | 13,168 | 14,229 | -7.5% | 3.0% |
| 7 | Spain | 12,127 | 11,463 | +5.8% | 2.8% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 11,885 | 10,902 | +9.0% | 2.7% |
| 9 | Canada | 10,127 | 10,348 | -2.1% | 2.3% |
| 10 | Denmark | 9,890 | 8,480 | +16.6% | 2.3% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for October 2023:
| Region | Occupancy 2023 | Occupancy 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 84.8% | 84.3% | +0.5 pp |
| Reykjanes | 83.4% | 68.0% | +15.4 pp |
| South | 76.8% | 76.4% | +0.4 pp |
| Total | 75.7% | 73.0% | +2.7 pp |
| North | 53.4% | 44.8% | +8.6 pp |
| East | 53.3% | 44.0% | +9.3 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 52.4% | 54.3% | -1.9 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in October 2023 was 27,377.11 million ISK (27.38 billion ISK), compared to 20,759.68 million ISK in October 2022.
This represents a +31.9% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 58,699 overnight stays in hotels in October 2023, down 16.8% from 70,565 in 2022.
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