In September 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 357,100 which is an increase of 37% compared with September 2015. Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 89% of the total number of overnight stays in September and increased by 38% compared with September 2015. At the same time, the overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 27%.
In the capital region, the number of overnight stays was 199,600, which is a 30% increase compared with September 2015. Around 56% of all overnight stays were in the capital region, followed by overnight stays in the South region, which were 52,600. Overseas residents with the most overnight stays in Iceland in September were from the USA (100,800), Germany (42,600), and UK (39,600).
For the last twelve months, from October 2015 to September 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 3,505,700, which is an increase of approximately 29% compared with the previous year, and an increase of 2.7% of overnight stays over a 12 month period when compared with the previous month.
80.0% occupancy rate for bedrooms in September 2016
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 80.0% in September 2016, which is an increase of 13.3 points when compared with September 2015, when it was 66.7%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the Southwest, or 92.3%. Occupancy rate in the capital region was 87.2%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| September | October – September | |||||
| 2015 | 2016 | % | 2014–2015 | 2015–2016 | % | |
| Total | 261,219 | 357,127 | 37 | 2,711,311 | 3,505,708 | 29 |
| Capital region | 153,844 | 199,599 | 30 | 1,752,888 | 2,244,031 | 28 |
| Southwest | 13,591 | 25,863 | 90 | 138,291 | 176,392 | 28 |
| West and Westfjords | 13,815 | 20,287 | 47 | 120,372 | 163,654 | 36 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 22,739 | 35,661 | 57 | 185,493 | 266,918 | 44 |
| East | 15,572 | 23,091 | 48 | 118,866 | 165,541 | 39 |
| South | 41,658 | 52,626 | 26 | 395,401 | 489,172 | 24 |
| Icelanders | 29,643 | 37,720 | 27 | 327,910 | 369,054 | 13 |
| Foreign visitors | 231,576 | 319,407 | 38 | 2,383,401 | 3,136,654 | 32 |
The above data only show overnight stays in hotels that are operating for the whole year. Guesthouses and summer hotels are not included in this category. Due to improved categorization of accommodation, there has been a slight change in numbers relating to overnight stays dating back to the beginning of 2015. In the current release, numbers in the relevant tables have been adjusted accordingly.
Earlier this month, Statistics Iceland started publishing data from the Icelandic Transport Authority on the number of rental cars by month and registration. These numbers will be updated on a monthly basis and can be found on the Statistics Iceland web under Short term indicators in tourism.