In December 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 287,400, which is an increase of 56% compared with December 2015. Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 90% of the total number of overnight stays in December, and increased by 59% compared with December 2015. At the same time, the overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 10%.
In the capital region, the number of overnight stays was 213,000, which is a 44% increase compared with December 2015. Around 74% of all overnight stays were in the capital region, followed by overnight stays in the South region, which were 37,800. Overseas residents with the most overnight stays in Iceland in December were from the UK (89,700), USA (65,900), and Germany (15,800), while overnight stays of Icelanders in December were 28,200.
Overnight stays in hotels were 3,808,100 in 2016, which is an increase of approximately 33% compared with the previous year. Statistics Iceland estimates that the total number of overnight stays for all types of accommodation in 2016 was approximately 8,500,000, thereof 7,500,000 for non-resident overnight stays and approximately 1,000,000 overnight stays of Icelanders. Since numbers for other types of accommodation than hotels have yet to be fully reviewed, it should be stressed that this is an initial estimate. A publication of revised numbers is planned for March 2017.
63.6% occupancy rate for bedrooms in December 2016
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 63.6% in December 2016, which is an increase of 16.8 points when compared with December 2015, when it was 46.8%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the capital region, or 84.5%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms in 2016 was 71.3% on average, which is an increase of 7.4 points from year 2015, when it was 63.9%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| December | January – December | |||||
| 2015 | 2016 | % | 2015 | 2016 | % | |
| Total | 184,694 | 287,443 | 56 | 2,870,785 | 3,808,120 | 33 |
| Capital region | 147,846 | 213,070 | 44 | 1,867,462 | 2,420,965 | 30 |
| Southwest | 8,469 | 17,886 | 111 | 145,866 | 207,371 | 42 |
| West and Westfjords | 2,774 | 5,304 | 91 | 124,200 | 171,535 | 38 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 4,475 | 6,873 | 54 | 188,037 | 283,635 | 51 |
| East | 1,568 | 6,538 | 317 | 123,911 | 187,124 | 51 |
| South | 19,562 | 37,772 | 93 | 421,309 | 537,490 | 28 |
| Icelanders | 21,156 | 28,230 | 33 | 323,285 | 397,186 | 23 |
| Foreign visitors | 163,538 | 259,213 | 59 | 2,547,500 | 3,410,934 | 34 |
The above data only show overnight stays in hotels that are operating for the whole year. Guesthouses and summer hotels are not included in this category. Due to improved information on accommodation, there has been a slight change in numbers relating to data on overnight stays dating back to July 2016. In the current release, numbers in the relevant tables have been adjusted accordingly. Data for year 2016 are preliminary.