Overnight stays in hotels in September 2017 were 378,300, which is an increase of 3% compared with September last year. Around 55% of all overnight stays were in the Capital region, or 209,900, a 3% increase compared with the previous year. Overnight stays increased by 10% in the Southwest, 7% in the West and the Westfjords, and by 4% in the South region. In the East, overnight stays were comparable to September last year, but decreased by 3% in the North.
Nights spent by foreign tourists accounted for 91% of the total number of overnight stays in September, a 6% increase compared with September 2016. At the same time, the overnight stays of Icelanders decreased by 17%. USA residents had the greatest number of overnight stays (117,500), then Germany (38,600) and the UK (32,900). Overnight stays of Icelanders in September were 32,800.
Over the last twelve months, from October 2016 to September 2017, overnight stays in hotels were 4,206,000, which is an increase of approximately 18% compared with the previous year.
76% occupancy rate for bedrooms in September 2017
Occupancy rate for bedrooms in hotels was 76.0% in September 2017, which is a decrease of 1.7 points from September 2016, when it was 77.7%. Over the same period, the number of hotel bedrooms has increased by 5.3%. The occupancy rate for bedrooms was highest in the Southwest, or 89.5%.
| Overnight stays in hotels | ||||||
| September | October–September | |||||
| 2016 | 2017 | % | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | % | |
| Total | 367,061 | 378,299 | 3 | 3,566,757 | 4,205,773 | 18 |
| Capital region | 204,009 | 209,851 | 3 | 2,275,868 | 2,595,486 | 14 |
| Southwest | 25,863 | 28,415 | 10 | 176,392 | 292,843 | 66 |
| West and Westfjords | 20,287 | 21,724 | 7 | 165,383 | 178,888 | 8 |
| Northwest and Northeast | 35,661 | 34,643 | -3 | 267,333 | 280,931 | 5 |
| East | 14,328 | 14,377 | 0 | 102,852 | 107,138 | 4 |
| South | 66,913 | 69,289 | 4 | 578,929 | 750,487 | 30 |
| Icelanders | 39,637 | 32,782 | -17 | 378,676 | 423,464 | 12 |
| Foreign visitors | 327,424 | 345,517 | 6 | 3,188,081 | 3,782,309 | 19 |
The above data only show overnight stays in hotels that are operating for the whole year. Guesthouses and summer hotels are not included.
Numbers for 2017 are preliminary. Statistics Iceland is currently reviewing methods for evaluating data on overnight stays with respect to nationalities of tourists. This does not affect the number of overnight stays, but might affect the distribution with respect to Icelanders vs. non-residents. The reviewing will be completed before the final publication of overnight stays for all types of accommodation for 2017.