In February 2023, there were 575,300 overnight stays in Iceland which exceeded February in all previous years. This is an 45% increase between years (396,400) and an 9.4% increase from 2018 (525,700).
Foreign overnight stays were 79% of overnight stays, or 455,100, which is an 55% increase from the previous year (396,400). Domestic overnight stays were 120,100 which is an 15% increase from the previous year (104,500). Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 435,700 while 139,600 were in other types of accommodation (apartments, cottages, campsites etc.). It is estimated that foreign overnight stays in unregistered home accommodation in February were around 75,000.
There were 371,900 overnight stays in hotels in February which is an 37% increase from the previous year (270,900). This increase is characterised by an increase in all regions. Foreign overnight stays at hotels were 304,900, or 82% of overnight stays at hotels, while the Icelandic overnights were 62,300 (18%). Foreign overnight stays increased by 46% and the Icelandic by 8%.
The number of hotel bedrooms increased by 5% in February 2023 compared with February the year before. Occupancy rate for hotel rooms was 65.9%, which is an increase of 14.9 percentage points from February 2022.
Statistics Iceland is now publishing the estimated number of unregistered overnight stays for January and February 2023. It is estimated that foreign overnight stays in home accommodation through Airbnb in January were around 52,000. Overnight stays in camper vans other than in camping areas were around 3,000 in January and 2,000 in February while there were 12,000 staying with friends and relatives in January and 15,000 in February.
A border study has been carried out at Keflavík Airport by the Icelandic Tourist Board and Statistics Iceland since June 2017 and Statistics Iceland published the estimated number of unregistered foreign overnight based on its results. Therein were estimates for overnight stays in homestays brokered through Airbnb, as well as overnight stays in campers and caravans outside paid camping areas and with friends and relatives. Due to the large decrease in the number of departures from Keflavík Airport following the Covid-19 pandemic, the border study was suspended from April 2020 to May 2021, and these estimations were discontinued in the summer of 2020.
All numbers for 2022 and 2023 are preliminary, except for hotel data which is preliminary for February 2023. 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.