The increase of inbound tourism in Iceland in the period 2009-2013 is reconfirmed by boosting of inbound tourism expenditure that went up in nominal terms from ISK 92.3 bn. in 2009 to ISK 165.1 bn. in 2013. To a lesser extent, one could note also the growth in nominal terms of domestic tourism expenditure and of the category “Other components of tourism consumption”, the latter comprising data on summer houses (imputed rentals) and Icelandic employer’s expenses for business trips of their employees (for domestic business trips and part of outbound business trips).

In relative terms, one can see that even though the inbound tourism expenditure has constantly increased its share in total internal tourism consumption (from 52% in 2010 to 60% in 2013), domestic tourism is still an important pillar of the Icelandic tourism economy. Domestic tourism expenditure includes the expenditure made by Icelandic residents in Iceland either as part of a domestic trip or part of an outbound trip (i.e. flight ticket abroad through an Icelandic airline).

In order to rigorously calculate the contribution of tourism to the Icelandic economy based on internationals standards in tourism statistics and tourism satellite accounts, Statistics Iceland has prepared a new compilation of Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA). This was made possible through a collaborative project with the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre and funded by the Ministry of Industries and Innovation. The figures presented are just the first TSA estimates to be produced. Other figures will be delivered in the coming months.

It is important to mention that due to changes in methodology these data are not comparable with the ones released by Statistics Iceland in 2011 and before.

Statistics