In July 2017, overnight stays in hotels were 466,100, which is an increase of 2% compared with July 2016. Around 53% of all overnight stays were in the Capital region, or 246,600, which is a 1% increase compared with July 2016. Overnight stays in the Southwest region were 35,200, which is an increase of 63% from the previous year. There was also an increase of 6% in the South region, with overnight stays of 92,400. Overnight stays in the West and Westfjords were 26.700, which is a decrease of 14%. There was also a 9% decrease of overnight stays in the North, as well as a 7% decrease in the East, compared with July 2016.
Non-residents with the most overnight stays in Iceland in July were from the USA (126,600), Germany (74,400) and UK (34,700), while overnight stays of Icelanders in July were 37,700. Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 92% of the total number of overnight stays in July, and increased by 1% compared with July 2016. At the same time, the overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 13%.
Over the last twelve months, from August 2016 to July 2017, overnight stays in hotels were 4,189,000, which is an increase of approximately 24% compared with the previous year.
90% occupancy rate for bedrooms in July 2017
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 89.7% in July 2017, which is a decrease of 2.0 points from July 2016, when it was 91.7%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 6.4%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the capital region, or 92.7%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| July | August–July | |||||
| 2016 | 2017 | % | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | % | |
| Total | 455,514 | 466,075 | 2 | 3,365,582 | 4,188,783 | 24 |
| Capital region | 244,777 | 246,615 | 1 | 2,178,631 | 2,584,041 | 19 |
| Southwest | 21,573 | 35,230 | 63 | 160,334 | 283,167 | 77 |
| West and Westfjords | 31,135 | 26,739 | -14 | 150,678 | 177,639 | 18 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 48,331 | 44,054 | -9 | 238,816 | 291,019 | 22 |
| East | 22,751 | 21,067 | -7 | 93,484 | 107,776 | 15 |
| South | 86,947 | 92,370 | 6 | 543,639 | 745,141 | 37 |
| Icelanders | 33,494 | 37,746 | 13 | 361,562 | 434,212 | 20 |
| Foreign visitors | 422,020 | 428,329 | 1 | 3,004,020 | 3,754,571 | 25 |
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.
Numbers for 2017 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. This work will be done before the final publication of overnight stays for all types of accommodation for 2017.