In November 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 298,300, which is an increase of 44% compared with November 2015. Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 90% of the total number of overnight stays in November, and increased by 48% compared with November 2015. At the same time, the overnight stays of Icelanders increased by 17%.
In the capital region, the number of overnight stays was 214,500, which is a 33% increase compared with November 2015. Around 71% of all overnight stays were in the capital region, followed by overnight stays in the South region, which were 35,400. Overseas residents with the most overnight stays in Iceland in November were from the UK (96,200), USA (74,600), and Germany (18,300), while overnight stays of Icelanders in November were 29,700.
For the last twelve months, from December 2015 to November 2016, overnight stays in hotels were 3,693,300, which is an increase of approximately 31% compared with the previous year, and an increase of 2.5% of overnight stays over a 12 month period when compared with the previous month.
68.1% occupancy rate for bedrooms in November 2016
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 68.1% in November 2016, which is an increase of 12.4 points when compared with November 2015, when it was 55.7%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the capital region, or 90.9%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| November | December –November | |||||
| 2015 | 2016 | % | 2014–2015 | 2015–2016 | % | |
| Total | 206,477 | 298,272 | 44 | 2,819,435 | 3,693,342 | 31 |
| Capital region | 161,040 | 214,510 | 33 | 1,828,381 | 2,343,712 | 28 |
| Southwest | 8,301 | 18,953 | 128 | 144,165 | 197,954 | 37 |
| West and Westfjords | 5,538 | 8,348 | 51 | 123,882 | 169,005 | 36 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 6,537 | 10,491 | 60 | 187,121 | 281,237 | 50 |
| East | 2,935 | 10,589 | 261 | 122,953 | 182,154 | 48 |
| South | 22,126 | 35,381 | 60 | 412,933 | 519,280 | 26 |
| Icelanders | 25,308 | 29,666 | 17 | 323,529 | 381,894 | 18 |
| Foreign visitors | 181,169 | 268,606 | 48 | 2,495,906 | 3,311,448 | 33 |
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 categorization of accommodation, there has been a slight change in numbers relating to supply and occupancy rates dating back to the beginning of 2015. In the current release, numbers in the relevant tables have been adjusted accordingly.