In March 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 295,300 which is an increase of 34% compared with March 2015. Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 89% of the total number of overnight stays in March and increased by 37% compared with March 2015. At the same time the overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 18%.
In the capital region, the number of overnight stays was 205,500, which is a 30% increase compared with March 2015. Around 70% of all overnight stays were in the capital region. Overnight stays in the South region were 43,200 in March 2016. Overseas residents with the most overnight stays in Iceland in March were from the UK (86,000), USA (63,900), and Germany (20,300).
For the last twelve months, from April 2015 to March 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 3,043,700, which is an increase of around 26% compared with the previous year.
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels in March 2016 was 69,2%
In March the occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the capital region, or 88,6%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| March | April - March | |||||
| 2015 | 2016 | % | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | % | |
| Total | 219,756 | 295,270 | 34 | 2,409,610 | 3,043,722 | 26 |
| Capital region | 157,895 | 205,482 | 30 | 1,618,813 | 2,000,215 | 24 |
| Southwest | 9,886 | 13,553 | 37 | 115,569 | 145,193 | 26 |
| West and Westfjords | 6,975 | 9,924 | 42 | 104,217 | 127,197 | 22 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 8,939 | 15,261 | 71 | 167,448 | 198,264 | 18 |
| East | 4,604 | 7,858 | 71 | 78,305 | 125,512 | 60 |
| South | 31,457 | 43,192 | 37 | 325,258 | 447,341 | 38 |
| Icelanders | 30,284 | 35,798 | 18 | 337,469 | 337,572 | 0 |
| Foreign visitors | 189,472 | 259,472 | 37 | 2,072,141 | 2,706,150 | 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.