In April 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 227,400 which is an increase of 29% compared with April 2015. Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 83% of the total number of overnight stays in April and increased by 30% compared with April 2015. At the same time, the overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 24%.
In the capital region, the number of overnight stays was 154,800, which is a 25% increase compared with April 2015. Around 68% of all overnight stays were in the capital region, whereas overnight stays in the South region were 29,700. Overseas residents with the most overnight stays in Iceland in April were from the USA (50,800), UK (45,000), and Germany (16,000).
For the last twelve months, from May 2015 to April 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 3,095,600, which is an increase of around 27% compared with the previous year.
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels in April 2016 was 59,2%
In March the occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the capital region, or 72,4%.
Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
April | May - April | |||||
2015 | 2016 | % | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | % | |
Total | 175,798 | 227,413 | 29 | 2,427,990 | 3,095,592 | 27 |
Capital region | 123,906 | 154,823 | 25 | 1,626,280 | 2,031,132 | 25 |
Southwest | 8,956 | 9,436 | 5 | 118,045 | 145,673 | 23 |
West and Westfjords | 5,975 | 7,627 | 28 | 105,787 | 128,849 | 22 |
Northwest and Northeast | 10,299 | 19,656 | 91 | 167,242 | 207,876 | 24 |
East | 3,478 | 6,221 | 79 | 79,270 | 128,255 | 62 |
South | 23,184 | 29,650 | 28 | 331,366 | 453,807 | 37 |
Icelanders | 29,822 | 37,088 | 24 | 334,356 | 344,900 | 3 |
Foreign visitors | 145,976 | 190,325 | 30 | 2,093,634 | 2,750,692 | 31 |
The data above only show overnight stays in hotels that are operating for the whole year. Guesthouses and summer hotels are not included in this category.