Please note that this press release is no longer valid. A corrected version has been published in its place.
Overnight stays in registered accommodation in February 2019 were 567,000, compared with 576,000 in February last year. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 418,000 and overnight stays in apartments, youth hostels, campsites etc. were 150,000.
There was a 1.5% decrease in the number of registered overnight stays in February between years, thereof a 2.5% decrease for hotels and guesthouses and 1.5% increase in other types of accommodation. Number of overnight stays in private accommodation through Airbnb and similar websites is postponed and will be published with the number of overnight stays in March, due at the end of April.
Fewer overnight stays in hotels in the Capital and Southwest regions Overnight stays in hotels in February 2019 were 343,700, which is a 3% decrease from February last year. There was a decrease in overnight stays in hotels in the Capital and Southwest regions, but an increase in other areas. Around 64% of all overnight stays were in the Capital region, or 218,400.
Over the most recent 12 month period, from March 2018 to February 2019, the total number of overnight stays in hotels was 4,439,300, which is a 3% increase from the previous 12 months.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| February | March-February | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | % | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | % | |
| Total | 353,140 | 343,654 | -3 | 4,291,120 | 4,439,291 | 3 |
| Capital region | 231,452 | 218,406 | -6 | 2,595,671 | 2,560,622 | -1 |
| Southwest | 25,021 | 21,740 | -13 | 300,193 | 303,176 | 1 |
| West and Westfjords | 11,084 | 15,050 | 36 | 193,273 | 251,264 | 30 |
| Northwest and Northe | 15,361 | 16,811 | 9 | 305,502 | 323,247 | 6 |
| East | 2,629 | 3,272 | 24 | 108,431 | 103,273 | -5 |
| South | 67,593 | 68,375 | 1 | 788,050 | 897,709 | 14 |
| Citizenship | ||||||
| Icelanders | 31,793 | 30,293 | -5 | 405,942 | 453,603 | 12 |
| Foreign visitors | 321,347 | 313,361 | -2 | 3,885,178 | 3,985,688 | 3 |
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 66.1% in February 2019, and decreased by 7.2 percentage points from February 2018, when it was 73.3%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 7.0%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms in February was highest in the Capital area, or 83.6%.
| Supply and occupancy rates of hotel bedrooms | ||||||
| Number of Hotel bedrooms in February | Room occupancy rate in February | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | % | 2018 | 2019 | pp | |
| Total | 9,516 | 10,185 | 7.0% | 73.3% | 66.1% | -7.2 |
| Capital region | 4,984 | 5,085 | 2.0% | 90.3% | 83.6% | -6.7 |
| Southwest | 634 | 634 | 0.0% | 79.9% | 65.2% | -14.6 |
| West and Westfjords | 533 | 762 | 43.0% | 41.2% | 39.9% | -1.2 |
| North | 955 | 1,178 | 23.4% | 34.4% | 30.1% | -4.3 |
| East | 349 | 349 | 0.0% | 16.1% | 19.6% | 3.5 |
| South | 2,061 | 2,177 | 5.6% | 66.0% | 61.5% | -4.5 |
Nights spent by foreign tourists in hotels were 313,400, which accounted for 91% of the total number of overnight stays in February. UK residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (104,600), then residents of the USA (67,500) and China (29,600). Overnight stays of Icelanders in February were 30,300.
Numbers for 2019 are preliminary.