Summary
September 2023 was part of Iceland's early autumn shoulder season, with the first northern lights appearances. Foreign guests recorded 460,315 overnight stays in hotels, compared to 423,579 in September 2022—a +8.7% change year-over-year.
National hotel occupancy stood at 81.7%, up 3.4 percentage points from 78.3% in 2022. Foreign card spending totaled 34.3 billion ISK (+23.9% YoY).
September 2023 in context
Foreign hotel nights for the year to date, January through September, reached 3,584,547, up 17.8% on the same period of 2022. Within 2023, September ranked 3rd of the twelve months by foreign nights. Against the average for September over the five preceding years (excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021), this month came in ahead by 21.5%. Compared with September 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, foreign nights were up 16.0%.
United States of America was the largest source market with 38.8% of foreign hotel nights, and the top three markets together accounted for 56.4%. Hotel occupancy of 81.7% means that share of available rooms was sold across the month; at this level most hotels in the capital are effectively full on peak nights. 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 2023, ranked by overnight stays:
| Rank | Market | Nights 2023 | Nights 2022 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 178,462 | 155,005 | +15.1% | 38.8% |
| 2 | Germany | 43,628 | 48,051 | -9.2% | 9.5% |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 37,374 | 41,127 | -9.1% | 8.1% |
| 4 | China | 17,293 | 2,443 | +607.9% | 3.8% |
| 5 | Spain | 15,686 | 15,377 | +2.0% | 3.4% |
| 6 | France | 14,426 | 16,163 | -10.7% | 3.1% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 13,316 | 12,590 | +5.8% | 2.9% |
| 8 | Canada | 13,243 | 13,088 | +1.2% | 2.9% |
| 9 | Other Asian countries | 12,504 | 7,335 | +70.5% | 2.7% |
| 10 | Italy | 10,722 | 11,807 | -9.2% | 2.3% |
Hotel Occupancy by Region
Regional hotel occupancy rates for September 2023:
| Region | Occupancy 2023 | Occupancy 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| South | 87.5% | 81.9% | +5.6 pp |
| Reykjanes | 84.7% | 71.4% | +13.3 pp |
| Capital Region | 83.0% | 81.8% | +1.2 pp |
| East | 82.7% | 79.7% | +3.0 pp |
| Total | 81.7% | 78.3% | +3.4 pp |
| North | 73.3% | 70.6% | +2.7 pp |
| West & Westfjords | 67.5% | 65.9% | +1.6 pp |
Foreign Card Spending
Total foreign card turnover in September 2023 was 34,277.9 million ISK (34.28 billion ISK), compared to 27,662.41 million ISK in September 2022.
This represents a +23.9% year-over-year change.
Domestic Tourism
Icelandic residents recorded 58,937 overnight stays in hotels in September 2023, down 13.6% from 68,223 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