In October 2023, there were 775,000 registered overnight stays in Iceland, which is a 12% increase from October 2022 (694,000). Overnight stays in hotels were 493,200, which is a 5% increase from October 2022.
Foreign overnight stays were 83% of overnight stays, or 642,000, which is a 14% increase from the previous year (561,300). Domestic overnight stays were 132,000, which is similar to the previous year. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 586,000 while 189,000 were in other types of accommodation (apartments, cottages, campsites etc.). Furthermore, it is estimated that foreign overnight stays in unregistered home accommodation in October were around 120,000.
There were 493,200 overnight stays in hotels in October, which is a 5% increase from the previous year (469,900). The greatest increase in overnight stays in hotels was in the East region (27%) and the North region (25%). Furthermore, there was an increase in all regions, except for the West region and the Westfjords, where there was a 12% decrease from October 2022.
Foreign overnight stays at hotels were 409,700, or 83% of overnight stays, while domestic overnight stays were 83,500 (17%). Foreign overnight stays increased by 8.0% whereas domestic overnights decreased by 7.7%.
The supply of hotel bedrooms was relatively unchanged from October 2022, whereas occupancy rate for hotel rooms increased by 3.7 percentage points. There was an increase in occupancy rates in most regions, the greatest increase being 15.4 percentage points in the Southwest region.
Foreign overnight stays in home accommodation through Airbnb in October are estimated to have been around 120,000. Overnight stays in camper vans other than in camping areas were around 4,000, while there were 17,000 staying with friends, relatives or through home exchange.
A border study has been carried out at Keflavík Airport by the Icelandic Tourist Board and Statistics Iceland since October 2017 and Statistics Iceland publishes 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.
All numbers for 2023 are preliminary, except for hotel data which is preliminary for October 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.