The number of overnight stays in August decreased by 65% compared with the same month last year. There was a 66% decrease in hotels, 52% decrease in guesthouses, and 60% decrease in other types of accommodation (youth hostels, cottages, campsites etc.). According to a border survey carried out by Statistics Iceland and the Icelandic Tourist Board, there was an 87% decrease in foreign overnight stays in home accommodation through peer-to-peer websites. Statistics Iceland does not have information on Icelandic overnight stays in home accommodation through peer-to-peer websites.
Overnight stays in all accommodation in August 2020 were 519,000 compared with 1.494,000 in August last year. Icelanders accounted for 53% or 273,000 overnight stays whereas foreign visitors accounted for 47% or 246,000 stays. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 274,000, thereof 180,000 in hotels. Overnight stays of foreign tourists in home accommodation through peer-to-peer websites were 32,000, and overnight stays in other types of accommodation were 213,000.
The number of hotel bedrooms decreased by 21% in August 2020 compared with August 2019. Whether judging from overnight stays, supply or occupancy rates, the decrease is greatest in the Capital, Southwest and South regions. The number of overnight stays in hotels in the Southwest region decreased from 50,300 to 10,200 or by 80%.
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 36.4% in August 2020 which is a decrease of 46 percentage points from August 2019. Occupancy rate was lowest in the Southwest (23.7%) but highest in the North (58.6%) and East (58.5%) regions.
| Supply and occupancy rates of hotel bedrooms in August | ||||||
| Number of Hotel bedrooms in August | Room occupancy rate in August | |||||
| 2019 | 2020 | % | 2019 | 2020 | pp | |
| Total | 11,200 | 8,828 | -21.2% | 82.5% | 36.4% | -46.2 |
| Capital region | 5,348 | 3,716 | -30.5% | 85.1% | 28.7% | -56.4 |
| Southwest | 915 | 675 | -26.2% | 87.8% | 23.7% | -64.1 |
| West and Westfjords | 925 | 852 | -7.9% | 66.7% | 45.3% | -21.4 |
| North | 1,214 | 1,133 | -6.7% | 75.0% | 58.6% | -16.4 |
| East | 441 | 421 | -4.5% | 80.5% | 58.5% | -22.0 |
| South | 2,357 | 2,031 | -13.8% | 85.2% | 33.8% | -51.4 |
Nights spent by foreign tourists in hotels decreased by 82% whereas nights spent by Icelanders increased by 145% (i.e. more than doubled). Overnight stays of Icelanders were 93,700 or 52% whereas overnight stays of foreign tourists were 86,300 or 48%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| August | September-August | |||||
| 2019 | 2020 | % | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | % | |
| Total | 522,945 | 180,012 | -66 | 4,482,388 | 2,835,180 | -37 |
| Capital region | 250,776 | 56,502 | -77 | 2,503,741 | 1,536,205 | -39 |
| Southwest | 50,162 | 10,252 | -80 | 372,744 | 222,498 | -40 |
| West and Westfjords | 34,726 | 22,137 | -36 | 248,636 | 179,616 | -28 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 50,827 | 37,124 | -27 | 339,327 | 244,161 | -28 |
| East | 20,708 | 14,329 | -31 | 112,546 | 83,876 | -25 |
| South | 115,746 | 39,668 | -66 | 905,394 | 568,824 | -37 |
| Citizenship | ||||||
| Icelanders | 38,181 | 93,674 | 145 | 426,147 | 583,484 | 37 |
| Foreign visitors | 484,764 | 86,338 | -82 | 4,056,241 | 2,251,696 | -44 |
The total number of overnight stays in hotels for the 12 months between September 2019 and August 2020 was 2,835,000 which is a 37% decrease from the preceding 12 month period.
Additionally, based on the border survey carried out by Statistics Iceland and the Icelandic Tourist Board, overnight stays of foreign tourists in cars other than at campsites were 6,000 and the number of overnight stays with friends and relatives, through exchanges or in other places where no payment was made were 14,000.
Since a decrease in departures from Keflavík International Airport has hampered data collection for the border study managed by Statistics Iceland and the Icelandic Tourist Board, collection will cease in September and will not be continued until the situation improves. Until then, Statistics Iceland will not publish estimates of unpaid overnight stays and overnight stays in home accommodation through peer-to-peer websites.
Methods
All numbers for 2020 are preliminary, except for hotel data which is preliminary for August 2020. All estimates of unregistered overnight stays are temporary and subject to change when further information are available, such as on VAT turnover, supply and occupancy rates of establishments offering accommodation through Airbnb. Due to abrupt changes in supply and occupancy rates, estimation for other types of accommodation is currently subject to a higher degree of uncertainty than usual and should therefore be taken with a special precaution until final numbers are available at the end of the year.