Overnight stays in hotels in March 2018 were 375,900, which is a 5% increase from March last year. Around 64% of all overnight stays were in the Capital region, or 240,900.
Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 88% of the total number of overnight stays in March. Overnight stays of foreign tourists increased by 6% from March 2017, while overnight stays of Icelanders decreased by 3%. USA residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (99,000), then residents of UK (86,200) and Germany (21.800). Overnight stays of Icelanders in March were 43,900.
70% occupancy rate for bedrooms in March
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 70.1% in March 2018, which is a decrease of 4.3 percentage points from March 2017, when it was 74.4%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 8.3%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms in March was highest in the Capital area, or 84.7%.
Estimated overnight stays for all types of accommodation in March
Statistics Iceland estimates that the total number of overnight stays for all types of accommodation in March 2018 was 606,600. Thereof, non-resident overnight stays are estimated to have been 540,800, and resident overnight stays 65,800.
Along with hotels and guesthouses, this includes all accommodation registered with Statistics Iceland, such as youth hostels, holiday centres, sleeping bag facilities and apartment and private home accommodation, as well as camping sites and lodges. Additionally, Statistics Iceland estimates that the number of overnight stays through websites such as AirBnB in March was 107,000.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| March | April–March | |||||
| 2017 | 2018 | % | 2017 | 2018 | % | |
| Total | 358,273 | 375,899 | 5 | 4,070,551 | 4,299,768 | 6 |
| Capital region | 232,987 | 240,851 | 3 | 2,548,505 | 2,603,309 | 2 |
| Southwest | 26,813 | 22,050 | -18 | 240,537 | 296,061 | 23 |
| West and Westfjords | 12,327 | 14,379 | 17 | 179,665 | 194,095 | 8 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 16,276 | 19,083 | 17 | 286,517 | 308,309 | 8 |
| East | 3,549 | 4,450 | 25 | 108,864 | 109,332 | 0 |
| South | 66,321 | 75,086 | 13 | 706,463 | 788,662 | 12 |
| Icelanders | 45,259 | 43,936 | -3 | 420,573 | 418,873 | 0 |
| Foreign visitors | 313,014 | 331,963 | 6 | 3,649,978 | 3,880,895 | 6 |
Numbers for 2017 and 2018 are preliminary. Statistics Iceland is currently reviewing methods for evaluating data on overnight stays with respect to nationalities of tourists. This does not affect the number of overnight stays, but might affect the distribution with respect to Icelanders vs. non-residents.