Summary
September 2017 was part of Iceland's early autumn shoulder season, with the first northern lights appearances. Foreign guests recorded 349,765 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 327,424 in September 2016—a +6.8% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 75.9%, down 1.8 percentage points from 77.7% in 2016. Foreign card spending totaled 24.5 billion ISK (+13.0% YoY).
September 2017 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through September, reached 2,992,883, up 13.8% on the same period of 2016. Within 2017, 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 77.4%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 34.1% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 54.8%. Hotel occupancy of 75.9% 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 2017, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2017 | Nights 2016 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 119,251 | 102,090 | +16.8% | 34.1% |
| 2 | Germany | 39,207 | 42,863 | -8.5% | 11.2% |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 33,214 | 40,331 | -17.6% | 9.5% |
| 4 | China | 21,483 | 13,427 | +60.0% | 6.1% |
| 5 | Canada | 13,740 | 12,120 | +13.4% | 3.9% |
| 6 | Sweden | 10,547 | 14,341 | -26.5% | 3.0% |
| 7 | Other Asian countries | 10,235 | 6,222 | +64.5% | 2.9% |
| 8 | Denmark | 9,630 | 9,779 | -1.5% | 2.8% |
| 9 | Norway | 9,397 | 10,225 | -8.1% | 2.7% |
| 10 | Spain | 9,278 | 6,839 | +35.7% | 2.7% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for September 2017:
| Region | Occupancy 2017 | Occupancy 2016 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjanes | 89.5% | 92.6% | -3.1 pp |
| Capital Region | 81.7% | 85.4% | -3.7 pp |
| Total | 75.9% | 77.7% | -1.8 pp |
| South | 70.9% | 66.4% | +4.5 pp |
| North | 66.5% | 71.7% | -5.2 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 60.3% | 61.4% | -1.1 pp |
| East | 58.9% | 58.1% | +0.8 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in September 2017 was 24,496.81 million ISK (24.50 billion ISK), compared to 21,684.22 million ISK in September 2016.
This represents a +13.0% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 33,438 overnight stays in hotels in September 2017, down 15.6% from 39,637 in 2016.
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