Overnight stays in all accommodation in June 2019 were 1,124,000, compared with 1,148,000 in June last year. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 591,500, thereof 397.600 in hotels and 193.900 in guesthouses. Overnight stays in apartments, youth hostels, campsites etc. were 363,000, and overnight stays through websites such as Airbnb were approximately 170,000.
There was a 2% decrease in the number of overnight stays in June between years. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were relatively unchanged between years, though interestingly, while there was a 5% decrease for hotels, there was a 14% increase for guesthouses. Overnight stays decreased by 10.5% in private accommodation through Airbnb etc., and by 1.6% in other types of accommodation.
5% decrease in overnight stays at hotels
Overnight stays in hotels in June 2019 were 397,600, which is a 5% decrease from June last year. There was an increase in the East (10%) and North (8%) but a decrease in other parts of the country. 52% of overnight stays at hotels were in the Capital area, or 207,800 which is a 6% decrease from the previous year.
Over a twelve month period between July 2018 and June 2019, the total number of overnight stays in hotels was 4,384,200, which is a 1% increase from the preceding 12 month period.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| June | July-June | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | % | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | % | |
| Total | 419,173 | 397,622 | -5 | 4,337,276 | 4,384,198 | 1 |
| Capital region | 221,300 | 207,814 | -6 | 2,595,117 | 2,511,996 | -3 |
| Southwest | 28,460 | 25,410 | -11 | 298,805 | 298,734 | 0 |
| West and Westfjords | 29,566 | 25,338 | -14 | 207,602 | 247,762 | 19 |
| Northwest and Northe | 38,154 | 41,270 | 8 | 304,643 | 332,421 | 9 |
| East | 14,372 | 15,751 | 10 | 105,754 | 109,011 | 3 |
| South | 87,321 | 82,039 | -6 | 825,355 | 884,274 | 7 |
| Citizenship | ||||||
| Icelanders | 42,551 | 35,756 | -16 | 444,221 | 425,213 | -4 |
| Foreign visitors | 376,622 | 361,866 | -4 | 3,893,055 | 3,958,985 | 2 |
As of June 2014 hotel room availability has gone from 6,100 rooms to 10,400, an increase of 70.3%. In June 2009 the rooms were 4,600 and have increased by 125,5% since then.
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was about 72.1% in June 2019, and decreased by 5.4 percentage points from June 2018, when it was about 77.5%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 3.1%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms in June was highest in the Southwest, or 79.8%.
| Supply and occupancy rates of hotel bedrooms in June | ||||||
| Number of Hotel bedrooms in June | Room occupancy rate in June | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | % | 2018 | 2019 | pp | |
| Total | 10,122 | 10,438 | 3.1% | 77.5% | 72.1% | -5.4 |
| Capital region | 5,028 | 5,094 | 1.3% | 83.2% | 78.0% | -5.3 |
| Southwest | 627 | 634 | 1.1% | 83.3% | 79.8% | -3.5 |
| West and Westfjords | 746 | 844 | 13.1% | 71.3% | 56.0% | -15.3 |
| North | 1,123 | 1,208 | 7.6% | 65.1% | 63.7% | -1.4 |
| East | 439 | 441 | 0.5% | 60.2% | 66.4% | 6.2 |
| South | 2,159 | 2,217 | 2.7% | 74.6% | 68.3% | -6.3 |
Nights spent by foreign tourists in hotels were 361,900, which accounted for 91% of the total number of overnight stays in June. USA residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (119,400), then residents of Germany (43,600) and the UK (28,200). Overnight stays of Icelanders in June were 35,600.
Additionally, overnight stays in cars other than at campsites were 14,000 and the number of overnight stays with friends and relatives, through exchanges or in other places where no payment was made, was 28,000. Estimates of unregistered overnight stays are temporary and subject to change as further information becomes available, such as on VAT turnover, supply and occupancy rates of establishments offering accommodation through Airbnb.
All numbers for 2019 are preliminary.