In January 2022 there were 241,200 overnight stays in Iceland compared with 56,800 in January 2021. Domestic overnight stays were 27% thereof, or 64,900, and the foreign were 176,300 (73%). The Icelandic overnight stays increased by 46.7% between years and the foreign fourteen folded. Overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses were 182,700 (thereof 161,600 in hotels), while 58,500 were in other types of accommodation (apartments, cottages, etc.). Compared with January 2020, there was a 42.3% decrease in overnight stays. Thereof, there was a 44.5% decrease in hotels, 53.8% decrease in guesthouses and 28.2% decrease in other types of accommodation.
There were 161,600 overnight stays in hotels in January, characterised by an increase in all regions from January 2021. The greatest increase was in the Capital region. Overnight stays of Icelanders in hotels were 36,500, or 22.6% of overnight stays in hotels, whereas overnight stays of foreign travellers were 125,100, or 77.4%.
In the 12 month period from February 2021 to January 2022, the number of overnight stays in hotels was 2,590,400, which is a 111% increase from the prior 12-month period. There was an increase in all regions.
The number of hotel bedrooms increased by 69% in January 2022 compared with January the year before. Occupancy rate for hotel rooms was 28.5%, which is an increase of 19 percentage points from January 2021.
Methods
Data collection for the border study managed by Statistics Iceland and the Icelandic Tourist Board resumed in June after a break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Methodology for estimating unpaid overnight stays and overnight stays in home accommodation through peer-to-peer websites is currently under review and is expected to be reintroduced in the coming months.
All numbers for 2022 and 2021 are preliminary, except for hotel data which is preliminary for January 2022. 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.