Tourism short-term indicators are a new addition to Statistics Iceland’s tourism statistics. The indicators will show the latest descriptive statistics for the tourism sector in Iceland. The indicators will be updated every month with the latest figures as they become available.
The first release includes the latest numbers on overnight stays, spending of foreign travelers, VAT-turnover in activities related to tourism, employees in activities related to tourism. Also released are statistics on rental cars from the Iceland transport authority, key statistics for traffic on the ring road from Icelandic Road Administration along with a count from the Icelandic Tourist board on passengers departing Iceland.
Picture 1: The graph shows how hotel room supply and occupancy has changed from 2010-2018
| Tourism short-term indicators | October | November - October | ||||||
| Overnight stays1 | 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | % | ||
| Total overnight stays | 586,512 | 649,274 | + | 11% | 8,375,959 | 8,990,534 | + | 7% |
| Hotels and guesthouses | 454,485 | 490,900 | + | 8.0% | 5,572,977 | 5,792,849 | + | 4% |
| Other types of listed accommodation2 | 132,027 | 158,400 | + | 20% | 2,802,982 | 3,197,685 | + | 14% |
| October | November - October | |||||||
| Occupancy rate of hotel rooms | 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2016-2017 | % | ||
| Total overnight stays in hotels | 368,224 | 397,902 | + | 8.1% | 4,259,560 | 4,457,847 | + | 5% |
| Available hotel rooms | 9,468 | 10,201 | + | 7.7% | 108,495 | 118,468 | + | 9% |
| Occupancy rate | 70% | 71% | + | 0.3 | 73% | 68% | - | -6 |
| Q3 | Q4 - Q3 | |||||||
| Balance of trade in services (million ISK) | 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | % | ||
| Revenue from non-Icelandic tourists | 188,701 | 193,989 | + | 3% | 495,608 | 512,084 | + | 3% |
| - Passenger flights | 66,884 | 69,511 | + | 4% | 180,009 | 182,207 | + | 1% |
| - Consumption | 121,817 | 124,479 | + | 2% | 315,599 | 329,876 | + | 5% |
| July - August | September - August | |||||||
| VAT turnover (million ISK) | 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | % | ||
| Total turnover | 154,041 | 165,764 | + | 7.6% | 622,465 | 677,244 | + | 8.8% |
| - Accommodation | 26,637 | 27,240 | + | 2.3% | 92,512 | 96,321 | + | 4.1% |
| - Passenger flights | 61,719 | 69,304 | + | 12.3% | 258,794 | 295,601 | + | 14.2% |
| - Catering and services | 19,117 | 19,355 | + | 1.2% | 93,937 | 98,316 | + | 4.7% |
| - Travel Agents and planners | 28,660 | 31,738 | + | 10.7% | 104,882 | 113,251 | + | 8.0% |
| - Car rentals | 12,640 | 12,767 | + | 1.0% | 50,110 | 50,879 | + | 1.5% |
| - Passenger transport on land | 5,268 | 5,360 | + | 1.7% | 22,231 | 22,875 | + | 2.9% |
| September | Average Employees October - September | |||||||
| Employees3 | 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | % | ||
| Total employees in key tourism sectors | 30,000 | 30,200 | + | 0.7% | 28,600 | 29,500 | + | 3.1% |
| - Accommodation | 5,200 | 5,800 | + | 12.7% | 4,500 | 5,100 | + | 13.3% |
| - Passenger flights | 7,400 | 7,400 | - | 0.0% | 6,600 | 6,800 | + | 2.3% |
| - Catering and services | 11,100 | 10,800 | - | -3.2% | 10,700 | 10,700 | - | 0.4% |
| - Travel Agents and planners | 4,300 | 4,400 | + | 2.2% | 4,000 | 4,100 | + | 2.8% |
| - Other tourism sectors | 3,000 | 3,000 | - | -1.9% | 2,800 | 2,800 | - | 1.4% |
| November | Average December - November | |||||||
| Rental cars4 | 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | % | ||
| Total rental cars | 24,575 | 25,749 | + | 4.8% | 23,104 | 25,115 | + | 8.7% |
| Rental cars (active) | 22,444 | 23,847 | + | 6.3% | 21,229 | 23,125 | + | 8.9% |
| Rental cars (inactive) | 2,131 | 1,902 | - | -10.7% | 1,875 | 1,990 | + | 6.1% |
| October | November - October | |||||||
| Traffic on roads5 | 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | % | ||
| South Iceland | 14,517 | 14,857 | + | 2% | 165,069 | 178,809 | + | 8% |
| West Iceland | 12,991 | 13,246 | + | 2% | 157,870 | 162,951 | + | 3% |
| North Iceland | 7,917 | 7,590 | - | -4% | 100,528 | 102,624 | + | 2% |
| East Iceland | 1,893 | 2,047 | + | 8% | 25,921 | 27,564 | + | 6% |
| October | November - October | |||||||
| Passengers6 | 2017 | 2018 | % | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | % | ||
| Total Passengers | 241,219 | 263,587 | + | 9% | 2,780,023 | 2,972,789 | + | 7% |
| - Icelandic nationality | 181,919 | 199,626 | + | 10% | 2,171,893 | 2,308,518 | + | 6% |
| - Other nationality | 59,300 | 63,961 | + | 8% | 608,130 | 664,271 | + | 9% |
1 Publication on the estimated number of overnight stays in October through websites such as Airbnb and on the estimated number of unpaid overnight stays is postponed. The methodology for calculating these numbers is being reviewed and data will be updated as soon as possible.
2 Other accommodations are camping sites, youth hostels, holiday centres, lodges in wilderness, apartments, sleeping-bag facilities and private-home accommodation.
3 Numbers rounded off to nearest hundred.
4 According to data from Icelandic transport authority.
5 According to numbers from Icelandic Road Administration. Monthly numbers show the average number of cars each month. 12 month rolling period specifies the total number of cars during the period. Data is used from 14 counters located on the ring road.
6 According to numbers from Icelandic Tourist Board.
News and announcements
Overnight stays
VAT-turnover in July-August 2018
Number of employees in September 2018
Balance of trade and services
Revenue from foreign travelers
Statistics
Accommodation
VAT-turnover and employees in activities related to tourism
Balance of trade and services
Revenue from foreign travelers