Overnight stays at registered accommodations in the year 2021 were 5.1 million compared with 3.3 millions in 2020 and increased by 55% between years. Icelandic overnights were 40% thereof, or 2 millions but were 1.5 in the year before. 60% of overnight stays were foreign or around 3.1 million compared with 1.8 in 2020.
Overnight stays at hotels and guesthouse were 3.3 million (thereof 2.5 million at hotels) and around 1.8 million in other types of accommodation (apartments, cottages, etc.). Compared with 2019 overnight stays have decreased by 39%. Thereof, 46% at hotels, 36% in guesthouses and 30% at other types of accommodation.
There were 307,500 overnight stays in Iceland in December 2021 compared with 44,000 in December 2020. Domestic overnight stays were 26% thereof or 78,900 and the foreign were 228,700 (74%). The Icelandic overnight stays increased by 67.8% between years and the foreign by 32.2%.
Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 233,300 (thereof 202,600 in hotels), while 74,000 were in other types of accommodation (apartments, cottages, etc.). Compared with December 2019, there was a 30.9% decrease in overnight stays. Thereof, there was a 34% decrease in hotels, 38% decrease in guesthouses and 16% decrease in other types of accommodation.
There were 202,600 overnight stays in hotels in December, characterised by an increase in all regions from December 2020. The greatest increase was in the Capital region.
The number of hotel bedrooms increased by 76% in December 2021 compared with December the year before. Occupancy rate for hotel rooms was 33%, which is an increase of 26.2 percentage points from December 2020.
Overnight stays of Icelanders in hotels were 47,100, or 23% of overnight stays in hotels, whereas overnight stays of foreign travellers were 155,500, or 77%.
In 2021, the number of overnight stays in hotels was 2,459,000, which is a 65% increase from the prior 12-month period. There was an increase in all regions.
Methods
Data collection for the border study managed by Statistics Iceland and the Icelandic Tourist Board resumed in June after a break due to Covid-19. Methodology for estimating unpaid overnight stays and overnight stays in home accommodation through peer-to-peer websites is currently under review and is expected to be reintroduced in the coming months.
All numbers for 2021 are preliminary, except for hotel data which is preliminary for December 2021. Due to abrupt changes in supply and occupancy rates, estimation for other types of accommodation than hotels is currently subject to a higher degree of uncertainty than usual and should therefore be taken with a special precaution until final numbers are available.