Overnight stays in all accommodation in August were 1,734,000, compared with 1,575,000 in August last year. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 714,500, overnight stays at youth hostels, campsites etc. were 688,500, and overnight stays through websites such as Airbnb were 331,000. There was a 10% increase in the number of overnight stays in August between years, thereof a 7% increase for hotels and guesthouses, 6% increase in Airbnb and a 16% increase for other types of accommodation.
Additionally, overnight stays in cars other than at campsites were 84,000 and the number of overnight stays with friends and relatives, through exchanges or in other places where no payment was made, were 46,000.
Statistics Iceland is currently also publishing first evaluation for July of overnight stays that are outside the scope of Statistics Iceland’s overnight stays registry. Overnight stays through Airbnb and similar websites in July were 243,600, overnight stays of foreign tourists in cars outside of campsites were 51,400, and other unpaid overnight stays of foreign tourists in July were 28,300. Statistics Iceland is currently reviewing the results of the Border Survey carried out on behalf of the Icelandic Tourist Board and Statistics Iceland. This review might affect the number of overnight stays in the years 2017 and 2018.
7% increase in overnight stays in hotels in August
Overnight stays in hotels in August 2018 were 496,500, which is a 7% increase from August last year. Around 51% of all overnight stays were in the Capital region, or 250,800.
Nights spent by foreign tourists were 459,400, which accounted for 93% of the total number of overnight stays in August. USA residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (163,400), then residents of Germany (47,500) and China (32,500). Overnight stays of Icelanders in August were 37,100.
Over the most recent 12 month period, from September 2017 to August 2018, the total number of overnight stays in hotels was 4,338,300, which is a 3% increase from the previous 12 months.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| August | Septemer–August | |||||
| 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | % | |
| Total | 464,109 | 496,516 | 7 | 4,215,076 | 4,338,293 | 3 |
| Capital region | 243,579 | 250,839 | 3 | 2,589,644 | 2,599,278 | 0 |
| Southwest | 28,570 | 36,059 | 26 | 290,291 | 306,772 | 6 |
| West and Westfjords | 28,920 | 34,365 | 19 | 183,973 | 207,891 | 13 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 48,774 | 49,377 | 1 | 291,908 | 305,470 | 5 |
| East | 22,011 | 18,438 | -16 | 107,038 | 100,320 | -6 |
| South | 92,255 | 107,438 | 16 | 752,222 | 818,562 | 9 |
| Icelanders | 32,507 | 37,131 | 14 | 411,958 | 448,595 | 9 |
| Foreign visitors | 431,602 | 459,385 | 6 | 3,803,118 | 3,889,698 | 2 |
85% occupancy rate for bedrooms in August
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 84.8% in August 2018 and decreased by 1.9 percentage points from August 2017, when it was 86.7%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 8.1%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms in August was highest in the Southwest, or 94.1%.
Numbers for 2018 are preliminary.