Overnight stays in hotels in October 2017 were 366,900, which is an increase of 8% compared with October last year. Around 62% of all overnight stays were in the Capital region, or 225,900, which is a 5% increase compared with the previous year. The number of overnight stays increased in all regions. The greatest increase was observed for the West and Westfjords, 54%. Over the same period, the number of hotels in the region has grown from 14 to 17, with a 21% increase in the number of bedrooms.
Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 87% of the total number of overnight stays in October, an 8% increase compared with October 2016. At the same time, the overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 10%. USA residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (97,800), then the UK (62,800) and Germany (22,600). Overnight stays of Icelanders in October were 45,300.
Over the last twelve months, from November 2016 to October 2017, overnight stays in hotels were 4,251,000, which is an increase of approximately 16% compared with the previous year.
70.5% occupancy rate for bedrooms in October 2017
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 70.5% in October 2017, which is a decrease of 0.5 percentage points from October 2016, when it was 71.0%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 6.7%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the Capital area, or 84.2%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| October | November–October | |||||
| 2016 | 2017 | % | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | % | |
| Total | 340,016 | 366,884 | 8 | 3,663,788 | 4,251,387 | 16 |
| Capital region | 215,024 | 225,918 | 5 | 2,323,730 | 2,606,380 | 12 |
| Southwest | 24,290 | 26,036 | 7 | 187,302 | 294,589 | 57 |
| West and Westfjords | 10,852 | 16,752 | 54 | 167,924 | 190,408 | 13 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 22,676 | 23,415 | 3 | 277,698 | 294,796 | 6 |
| East | 6,432 | 7,477 | 16 | 106,396 | 108,183 | 2 |
| South | 60,742 | 67,286 | 11 | 600,738 | 757,031 | 26 |
| Icelanders | 41,346 | 45,310 | 10 | 389,585 | 429,422 | 10 |
| Foreign visitors | 298,670 | 321,574 | 8 | 3,274,203 | 3,821,965 | 17 |
The above data only show overnight stays in hotels that are operating for the whole year. Guesthouses and summer hotels are not included.
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. The reviewing will be completed before the final publication of overnight stays for all types of accommodation for 2017.