Statistics Show More Signs Of The Tourism Slowdown

Warning: Math heavy article coming up. Prepare yourself for some hard numbers.

This June, tourists spent a total of 1,188,600 nights in hotels, hostels and apartments in Iceland, half a percent less than last years 1,195,000 nights, according to a story by RÚV based on a report by Hagstofa, the Icelandic institute of statistics. Around half of these were at hotels and B&Bs, nights in private apartments sold through AirBnB and similar websites were 190,000, and hostels and campsites make up the rest with 408,600 stays.

There are some interesting moves in the market: Hotel use increased by 4% between years, and locals’ use of hotels almost doubled, now standing at 10%, which correlates almost perfectly with the gross increase.

Analysts believe that tourism is not decreasing, but simply settling into a similar pattern. Many locals are relieved, as the rapid increase has caused a myriad of problems, so a slower period where infrastructure can be improved, housing built and so-on is a welcome change. Others have mentioned that the World Cup in Russia in June affected tourism numbers across Europe.

Room use in the period was 77.7%, 3,2% lower than June 2017, but at the same time the total amount of rooms on offer went up by 5,5%.

The most popular destination was in the Suðurnes region, by the international airport, which fits with earlier reports of an increase in total visitors but shorter median visits.

These numbers are temporary and subject to change, of course.

Check out our coverage of AirBnBs here and our special feature from last summer on how tourism has affected Reykjavík here.