In February 2017, overnight stays in hotels were 331,800, which is an increase of 21% compared with February 2016. Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 89% of the total number of overnight stays in February, and increased by 21% compared with February 2016. At the same time, the overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 18%.
In the capital region, the number of overnight stays was 227,100, which is a 13% increase compared with February 2016. Around 68% of all overnight stays were in the capital region, followed by overnight stays in the South region, which were 48,200. Overseas residents with the most overnight stays in Iceland in February were from the UK (107,600), USA (69,900), and Germany (20,300), while overnight stays of Icelanders in February were 37,400.
For the last twelve months, from March 2016 to February 2017, overnight stays in hotels were 3,969,500, which is an increase of approximately 33% compared with the previous year.
77.6% occupancy rate for bedrooms in February 2017
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 77.6% in February 2017, which is an increase of 9.4 points from February 2016, when it was 68.2%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the capital region, or 96.0%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| February | March – February | |||||
| 2016 | 2017 | % | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | % | |
| Total | 274,936 | 331,767 | 21 | 2,988,445 | 3,969,516 | 33 |
| Capital region | 201,758 | 227,112 | 13 | 1,955,000 | 2,514,449 | 29 |
| Southwest | 14,408 | 21,494 | 49 | 152,403 | 223,002 | 46 |
| West and Westfjords | 7,121 | 9,533 | 34 | 124,248 | 176,357 | 42 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 10,109 | 11,629 | 15 | 191,942 | 285,628 | 49 |
| East | 5,970 | 13,782 | 131 | 129,246 | 202,303 | 57 |
| South | 35,570 | 48,217 | 36 | 435,606 | 567,777 | 30 |
| Icelanders | 31,717 | 37,368 | 18 | 334,901 | 406,914 | 22 |
| Foreign visitors | 243,219 | 294,399 | 21 | 2,653,544 | 3,562,602 | 34 |
The above data only show overnight stays in hotels that are operating for the whole year. Guesthouses and summer hotels are not included in this category. Numbers for 2016 and 2017 are preliminary.
Currently, Statistics Iceland is working on a publication on overnight stays in all types of accommodation for 2016. Publication is set for April 11th 2017.