Overnight stays in all accommodation in May were 725,000, compared with 692,100 in May last year. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 430,300, overnight stays through websites such as Airbnb were 120,800, and 173,900 overnight stays at other accommodation types.
In addition, overnight stays of foreign tourists outside the traditional accommodation were estimated at 52,800 in May. Thereof, overnight stays in cars were 26,700 and the number of overnight stays with friends and relatives, through exchanges or in other places where no payment was made, were 26,100.
2% increase in overnight stays in hotels in May
Overnight stays in hotels in May 2018 were 311,700, which is a 2% increase from May last year. Around 55% of all overnight stays were in the Capital region, or 171,400.
Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 86% of the total number of overnight stays in May. Overnight stays of foreign tourists increased by 1% from May 2017, while overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 12%. USA residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (91,600), then residents of Germany (30,300) and UK (28.300). Overnight stays of Icelanders in May were 43,200.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| May | June–May | |||||
| 2017 | 2018 | % | 2017 | 2018 | % | |
| Total | 304,452 | 311,712 | 2 | 4,153,448 | 4,287,985 | 3 |
| Capital region | 176,405 | 171,446 | -3 | 2,575,154 | 2,591,636 | 1 |
| Southwest | 22,303 | 25,844 | 16 | 260,368 | 298,127 | 15 |
| West and Westfjords | 15,337 | 19,870 | 30 | 182,661 | 198,070 | 8 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 28,377 | 24,189 | -15 | 292,684 | 302,886 | 3 |
| East | 9,509 | 8,927 | -6 | 109,927 | 107,609 | -2 |
| South | 52,521 | 61,436 | 17 | 732,654 | 789,657 | 8 |
| Icelanders | 38,506 | 43,155 | 12 | 433,780 | 422,163 | -3 |
| Foreign visitors | 265,946 | 268,557 | 1 | 3,719,668 | 3,865,822 | 4 |
58% occupancy rate for bedrooms in May
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 58.4% in May 2018 and decreased by 3.8 percentage points from May 2017, when it was 62.2%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 6.4%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms in May was highest in the Southwest, or 74.2%.
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 in 2017, but might affect the distribution with respect to Icelanders vs. non-residents.