Summary
September 2020 was part of Iceland's early autumn shoulder season, with the first northern lights appearances. Foreign guests recorded 19,464 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 396,721 in September 2019—a -95.1% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 15.6%, down 58.2 percentage points from 73.8% in 2019. Foreign card spending totaled 2.3 billion ISK (-89.8% YoY).
September 2020 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through September, reached 965,172, down 69.4% on the same period of 2019. Within 2020, September ranked 6th of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for September over the five preceding years, this month came in behind by 94.3%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 21.0% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 50.1%. Hotel occupancy of 15.6% 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 September 2020, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2020 | Nights 2019 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 4,078 | 138,723 | -97.1% | 21.0% |
| 2 | Germany | 3,759 | 35,921 | -89.5% | 19.3% |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 1,920 | 31,378 | -93.9% | 9.9% |
| 4 | France | 1,032 | 14,205 | -92.7% | 5.3% |
| 5 | Denmark | 1,004 | 10,957 | -90.8% | 5.2% |
| 6 | Italy | 867 | 6,133 | -85.9% | 4.5% |
| 7 | Spain | 864 | 13,147 | -93.4% | 4.4% |
| 8 | Switzerland (incl. Liechtenstein) | 845 | 8,551 | -90.1% | 4.3% |
| 9 | Poland | 832 | 2,580 | -67.8% | 4.3% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 521 | 9,519 | -94.5% | 2.7% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for September 2020:
| Region | Occupancy 2020 | Occupancy 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjanes | 25.7% | 79.3% | -53.6 pp |
| North | 20.6% | 62.9% | -42.3 pp |
| East | 18.6% | 64.2% | -45.6 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 16.2% | 60.3% | -44.1 pp |
| Total | 15.6% | 73.8% | -58.2 pp |
| South | 13.4% | 73.4% | -60.0 pp |
| Capital Region | 13.0% | 78.6% | -65.6 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in September 2020 was 2,275.63 million ISK (2.28 billion ISK), compared to 22,392.6 million ISK in September 2019.
This represents a -89.8% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 46,540 overnight stays in hotels in September 2020, up 24.2% from 37,485 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