Overnight stays in July were 1,405,400 for accommodation types registered at Statistics Iceland, compared with 1,402,900 in July last year. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 695,700 and overnight stays at other accommodation types (such as youth hostels and campsites) were 709,700. While the number of overnight stays at registered accommodation facilities was relatively unchanged between years, there was a 1.6% decrease for hotels and guesthouses, and a 2.0% increase for other types of accommodation.
Statistics Iceland is currently reviewing the results of the Border Survey carried out at Keflavík Airport, and methods for estimating the number of overnight stays of foreign tourists outside registered accommodation types (i.e. through Airbnb and similar websites, as well as unpaid overnight stays in rental cars, through exchanges, with friends and relatives etc.). Numbers of overnight stays in July for these categories will be published as soon as that review will be finished.
1.4% decrease in overnight stays in hotels in July
Overnight stays in hotels in July 2018 were 466,800, which is a 1.4% decrease from July last year. Around 51% of all overnight stays were in the Capital region, or 238,700.
Nights spent by foreign tourists were 425,300, which accounted for 91% of the total number of overnight stays in July. USA residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (151,500), then residents of Germany (54,400) and UK (28,500). Overnight stays of Icelanders in July were 41,500.
Over the most recent 12 month period, from August 2017 to July 2018, the total number of overnight stays in hotels was 4,295,000, which is a 2% increase from the previous 12 months.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| July | August–July | |||||
| 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | % | |
| Total | 473,604 | 466,754 | -1 | 4,198,125 | 4,295,220 | 2 |
| Capital region | 246,615 | 238,734 | -3 | 2,584,041 | 2,587,236 | 0 |
| Southwest | 35,230 | 33,890 | -4 | 283,167 | 299,283 | 6 |
| West and Westfjords | 29,745 | 28,406 | -5 | 183,259 | 197,552 | 8 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 47,612 | 46,846 | -2 | 293,098 | 303,877 | 4 |
| East | 21,067 | 19,206 | -9 | 107,725 | 103,893 | -4 |
| South | 93,335 | 99,672 | 7 | 746,835 | 803,379 | 8 |
| Icelanders | 38,667 | 41,479 | 7 | 414,773 | 441,250 | 6 |
| Foreign visitors | 434,937 | 425,275 | -2 | 3,783,352 | 3,853,970 | 2 |
83% occupancy rate for bedrooms in July
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 82.8% in July 2018 and decreased by 6.4 percentage points from July 2017, when it was 89.2%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 5.3%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms in July was highest in the Southwest, or 91.5%.
Numbers for 2018 are preliminary.
Statistics