The number of overnight stays in July decreased by 57% compared with the same month last year. There was a 56% decrease in hotels, 51% decrease in guesthouses, and 49% decrease in other types of accommodation (youth hostels, cottages, campsites etc.). According to a border survey carried out by Statistics Iceland and the Icelandic Tourist Board, there was an 87% decrease in foreign overnight stays in home accommodation through peer-to-peer websites. Statistics Iceland does not have information on Icelandic overnight stays in home accommodation through peer-to-peer websites.
Overnight stays in all accommodation in July 2020 were 667,000 compared with 1,557,000 in July last year. Icelanders accounted for 71% or 476,000 overnight stays whereas foreign visitors accounted for 29% or 191,000. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 327,900, thereof 224,400 in hotels. Overnight stays of foreign tourists in home accommodation through peer-to-peer websites were 32,000, and overnight stays in other types of accommodation were 307,000.
The number of hotel bedrooms decreased by 23% in July 2020 compared with July 2019. Whether judging from overnight stays, supply or occupancy rates, the decrease is greatest around the Capital Region. For instance, the number of hotel bedrooms in the Capital Region decreased by 38%, by 14% in the South and Southwest, but by 3% in other areas combined.
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 46.7% in July 2020 which is a decrease of 34 percentage points from July 2019. Occupancy rate was lowest in the Southwest (29.1%) but highest in the East (73.3%).
| Supply and occupancy rates of hotel bedrooms in July | ||||||
| Number of hotel bedrooms in July | Room occupancy rate in July | |||||
| 2019 | 2020 | % | 2019 | 2020 | pp | |
| Total | 11,058 | 8,547 | -22.7% | 80.7% | 46.7% | -34.0 |
| Capital region | 5,238 | 3,241 | -38.1% | 80.1% | 34.6% | -45.5 |
| Southwest | 882 | 731 | -17.1% | 88.6% | 29.1% | -59.4 |
| West and Westfjords | 912 | 866 | -5.0% | 70.0% | 55.5% | -14.5 |
| North | 1,214 | 1,213 | -0.1% | 78.5% | 70.8% | -7.7 |
| East | 441 | 417 | -5.4% | 80.8% | 73.3% | -7.5 |
| South | 2,371 | 2,079 | -12.3% | 84.6% | 48.7% | -35.8 |
Nights spent by foreign tourists in hotels decreased by 80% whereas nights spent by Icelanders increased more than threefold. Overnight stays of Icelanders were 130,400 or 58% whereas overnight stays of foreign tourists were 94,000 or 42%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| July | August-July | |||||
| 2019 | 2020 | % | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | % | |
| Total | 420,320 | 89,856 | -79 | 4,442,859 | 3,457,664 | -22 |
| Capital region | 210,786 | 17,917 | -91 | 2,514,768 | 1,901,385 | -24 |
| Southwest | 37,826 | 4,628 | -88 | 344,928 | 298,070 | -14 |
| West and Westfjords | 27,994 | 15,977 | -43 | 249,524 | 203,852 | -18 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 41,270 | 19,066 | -54 | 332,421 | 259,684 | -22 |
| East | 15,751 | 7,198 | -54 | 109,011 | 93,011 | -15 |
| South | 86,693 | 25,070 | -71 | 892,207 | 701,662 | -21 |
| Citizenship | ||||||
| Icelanders | 38,164 | 74,801 | 96 | 430,633 | 434,423 | 1 |
| Foreign visitors | 382,156 | 15,055 | -96 | 4,012,226 | 3,023,241 | -25 |
The total number of overnight stays in hotels for the 12 months between August 2019 and July 2020 was 3,174,000 which is a 29% decrease from the preceding 12 month period.
Additionally, based on the border survey carried out by Statistics Iceland and the Icelandic Tourist Board, overnight stays of foreign tourists in cars other than at campsites were 7,000 and the number of overnight stays with friends and relatives, through exchanges or in other places where no payment was made were 14,000.
Methods
All numbers for 2020 are preliminary, except for hotel data which is preliminary for July 2020. All estimates of unregistered overnight stays are temporary and subject to change when further information are available, such as on VAT turnover, supply and occupancy rates of establishments offering accommodation through Airbnb. Due to abrupt changes in supply and occupancy rates, estimation for other types of accommodation is currently subject to a higher degree of uncertainty than usual and should therefore be taken with a special precaution until final numbers are available at the end of the year.