Overnight stays in all accommodation in April were 534,700, compared with 576,600 in April last year. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 344,700, overnight stays through websites such as Airbnb were 97,700, and 92,300 overnight stays at other accommodation types.
In addition, overnight stays of foreign tourists outside the traditional accommodation were estimated at 27,700 in April. Thereof, overnight stays in cars were 11,600 and the number of overnight stays with friends and relatives, through exchanges or in other places where no payment was made, were 16,100.
6% decrease in overnight stays in hotels in April
Overnight stays in hotels in April 2018 were 276,300, which is a 6% decrease from April last year. Around 63% of all overnight stays were in the Capital region, or 175,000.
Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 84% of the total number of overnight stays in April. Overnight stays of foreign tourists decreased by 7% from April 2017, while overnight stays of Icelanders decreased by 3%. USA residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (68,100), then residents of UK (43,800) and Germany (16.700). Overnight stays of Icelanders in April were 44,400.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| April | May–April | |||||
| 2017 | 2018 | % | 2017 | 2018 | % | |
| Total | 294,349 | 276,281 | -6 | 4,131,705 | 4,280,722 | 4 |
| Capital region | 181,933 | 174,993 | -4 | 2,573,593 | 2,596,595 | 1 |
| Southwest | 20,281 | 18,803 | -7 | 250,418 | 294,583 | 18 |
| West and Westfjords | 11,375 | 10,817 | -5 | 183,047 | 193,537 | 6 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 20,784 | 19,549 | -6 | 287,230 | 307,074 | 7 |
| East | 5,240 | 4,099 | -22 | 109,349 | 108,191 | -1 |
| South | 54,736 | 48,020 | -12 | 728,068 | 780,742 | 7 |
| Icelanders | 45,953 | 44,362 | -3 | 428,920 | 417,423 | -3 |
| Foreign visitors | 248,396 | 231,919 | -7 | 3,702,785 | 3,863,299 | 4 |
55% occupancy rate for bedrooms in April
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 54.7% in April 2018 and decreased by 11.3 percentage points from April 2017, when it was 66.0%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 8.3%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms in April was highest in the Capital area, or 65.7%.
Numbers for 2017 and 2018 are preliminary. Statistics Iceland is currently reviewing methods for evaluating data on overnight stays with respect to nationalities of tourists. This does not affect the number of overnight stays, but might affect the distribution with respect to Icelanders vs. non-residents.