In August 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 433,000 which is an increase of 24% compared with August 2015. Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 93% of the total number of overnight stays in August and increased by 25% compared with August 2015. At the same time, the overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 15%.
In the capital region, the number of overnight stays was 232,800, which is a 22% increase compared with August 2015. Around 54% of all overnight stays were in the capital region, followed by overnight stays in the South region, which were 68,500. Overseas residents with the most overnight stays in Iceland in August were from the USA (96,000), Germany (79,600), and UK (40,300).
For the last twelve months, from September 2015 to August 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 3,389,000, which is an increase of around 29% compared with the previous year.
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels in August 2016 was 92.0%
In August, the occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the Southwest, or 96.3%. Furthermore, occupancy rate was over 90% in the capital region (93.6%), and in the East (93.3%).
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| August | September – August | |||||
| 2015 | 2016 | % | 2014–2015 | 2015–2016 | % | |
| Total | 349,010 | 433,028 | 24 | 2,635,802 | 3,389,009 | 29 |
| Capital region | 190,904 | 232,805 | 22 | 1,723,853 | 2,197,333 | 27 |
| Southwest | 16,621 | 20,455 | 23 | 126,938 | 152,956 | 20 |
| West and Westfjords | 19,973 | 28,206 | 41 | 117,767 | 157,182 | 33 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 34,369 | 49,964 | 45 | 180,863 | 253,996 | 40 |
| East | 25,275 | 33,121 | 31 | 105,073 | 150,434 | 43 |
| South | 61,868 | 68,477 | 11 | 381,308 | 477,108 | 25 |
| Icelanders | 27,755 | 31,878 | 15 | 329,824 | 357,134 | 8 |
| Foreign visitors | 321,255 | 401,150 | 25 | 2,305,978 | 3,031,875 | 31 |
The data above only show overnight stays in hotels that are operating for the whole year. Guesthouses and summer hotels are not included in this category.