According to preliminary figures, there was a 3.1% decrease in paid overnight stays from 2018 to 2019. There were just over 10 million overnight stays in 2019 but almost 10.4 million in 2018. There was a 1.3% decrease in overnight stays at hotels and guesthouses, a 10.8% decrease in private home accommodation through Airbnb and likewise, and a 1.9% decrease for other types of accommodation (youth hostels, campsites, etc.).
| Paid overnight stays 2018-2019 | |||
| 2018 | 2019* | % | |
| Total | 10,364,886 | 10,040,959 | -3.1% |
| Hotels and guesthouses | 5,861,091 | 5,785,059 | -1.3% |
| Websites such as Airbnb | 1,816,000 | 1,620,000 | -10.8% |
| Others | 2,687,795 | 2,635,900 | -1.9% |
| *Preliminary figures for 2019 | |||
4.6% decrease of overnight stays in December
The number of overnight stays in December decreased by 4.6% compared with the same month last year. There was a 1% increase in hotels, 11% decrease in guesthouses, 19% decrease in private accommodation through Airbnb etc. and 6% decrease in other types of accommodation.
Overnight stays in all accommodation in December 2019 were 504,000, compared with 528,200 in December last year. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 352,700, thereof 304,700 in hotels. Overnight stays in apartments, youth hostels, campsites etc. were 87,300, and overnight stays at private accommodation through websites such as Airbnb were approximately 64,000.
1% increase in overnight stays at hotels
Overnight stays in hotels in December 2019 were 304,700, which is a 1% increase from December last year. Overnight stays in the North region decreased by 23%, where as they increased or remained unchanged in other regions. Around 67% of overnight stays in hotels were in the Capital area, or 204,300.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| December | January-December | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | % | 2018 | 2019 | % | |
| Total | 302,422 | 304,722 | 1 | 4,472,870 | 4,519,023 | 1 |
| Capital region | 203,267 | 204,287 | 1 | 2,590,618 | 2,514,917 | -3 |
| Southwest | 20,178 | 22,341 | 11 | 307,016 | 399,671 | 30 |
| West and Westfjords | 6,978 | 8,098 | 16 | 246,458 | 245,240 | 0 |
| Northwest and Northe | 13,181 | 10,106 | -23 | 321,716 | 337,077 | 5 |
| East | 2,569 | 3,739 | 46 | 102,516 | 118,384 | 15 |
| South | 56,249 | 56,151 | 0 | 904,546 | 903,734 | 0 |
| Citizenship | ||||||
| Icelanders | 30,072 | 29,997 | 0 | 458,754 | 437,317 | -5 |
| Foreign visitors | 272,350 | 274,725 | 1 | 4,014,116 | 4,081,706 | 2 |
The total number of overnight stays in hotels in 2019 was 4,519,000, which is a 1% increase from 2018.
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 50.6% in December 2019, which is a decrease of 2.7 percentage points from December 2018. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms increased by 8.9%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms in December was highest in the Capital area (67.7%).
| Supply and occupancy rates of hotel bedrooms in December | ||||||
| Number of Hotel bedrooms in December | Room occupancy rate in December | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | % | 2018 | 2019 | pp | |
| Total | 9,973 | 10,856 | 8.9% | 53.3% | 50.6% | -2.7 |
| Capital region | 5,065 | 5,399 | 6.6% | 70.1% | 67.7% | -2.4 |
| Southwest | 634 | 956 | 50.8% | 56.1% | 39.7% | -16.5 |
| West and Westfjords | 632 | 803 | 27.1% | 20.3% | 18.9% | -1.4 |
| North | 1,054 | 1,093 | 3.7% | 23.3% | 19.2% | -4.1 |
| East | 394 | 360 | -8.6% | 12.1% | 19.9% | 7.8 |
| South | 2,194 | 2,245 | 2.3% | 45.0% | 45.7% | 0.7 |
Nights spent by foreign tourists in hotels were 274,700, which accounted for 90% of overnight stays in December. UK residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (69,000), then residents of USA (60,300) and China (42,000). Overnight stays of Icelanders in December were 30,000.
Additionally, overnight stays in cars other than at campsites were 2,000 and the number of overnight stays with friends and relatives, through exchanges or in other places where no payment was made, were 17,000.
Methods
Methods for estimating unregistered overnight stays are under development. All estimates of unregistered overnight stays are temporary and subject to change when further information are available, such as on VAT turnover, supply and occupancy rates of establishments offering accommodation through Airbnb.
All numbers for 2019 are preliminary.