Summary
September 2015 was part of Iceland's early autumn shoulder season, with the first northern lights appearances. Foreign guests recorded 231,576 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 165,310 in September 2014—a +40.1% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 66.6%, up 1.7 percentage points from 64.9% in 2014. Foreign card spending totaled 13.6 billion ISK (+45.6% YoY).
September 2015 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through September, reached 1,989,894, up 26.3% on the same period of 2014. Within 2015, September ranked 4th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for September over the five preceding years, this month came in ahead by 84.7%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 24.5% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 52.8%. Hotel occupancy of 66.6% 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 September 2015, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2015 | Nights 2014 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 56,751 | 39,445 | +43.9% | 24.5% |
| 2 | Germany | 35,155 | 20,437 | +72.0% | 15.2% |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 30,321 | 23,376 | +29.7% | 13.1% |
| 4 | Sweden | 11,382 | 10,418 | +9.3% | 4.9% |
| 5 | Norway | 10,920 | 10,009 | +9.1% | 4.7% |
| 6 | Japan | 9,968 | 8,418 | +18.4% | 4.3% |
| 7 | Denmark | 8,261 | 8,974 | -7.9% | 3.6% |
| 8 | France | 8,024 | 5,548 | +44.6% | 3.5% |
| 9 | China | 7,950 | 3,068 | +159.1% | 3.4% |
| 10 | Canada | 7,029 | 5,604 | +25.4% | 3.0% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for September 2015:
| Region | Occupancy 2015 | Occupancy 2014 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 74.4% | 78.3% | -3.9 pp |
| Reykjanes | 69.7% | 57.7% | +12.0 pp |
| Total | 66.6% | 64.9% | +1.7 pp |
| South | 58.5% | 44.2% | +14.3 pp |
| North | 54.6% | 57.2% | -2.6 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 54.6% | 52.6% | +2.0 pp |
| East | 47.6% | 39.2% | +8.4 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in September 2015 was 13,639.08 million ISK (13.64 billion ISK), compared to 9,365.66 million ISK in September 2014.
This represents a +45.6% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 29,643 overnight stays in hotels in September 2015, down 10.5% from 33,108 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