According to data from the Icelandic Tourist Board (Ferðamálastofa), 65,000 Icelanders departed from Keflavík Airport in May. The number of departures has not been higher since measurements began.
Previous record broken
As noted in a press release published on the website of the Icelandic Tourist Board this morning, 65,000 Icelanders flew abroad from Keflavík Airport in May. Never before have as many Icelanders departed from the country in May since measurements began. The previous record for departures among Icelanders from Keflavík was in May 2018, or nearly 63,000.
Approximately 450,000 travellers – of which 200,000 Icelanders – have departed from Keflavík Airport since the beginning of the new year. At the same time last year, only 32,000 departing passengers were recorded.
As far as the month of May is concerned, the departures of foreign passengers were also significant, with approximately 112,000 departures. This number has only been exceeded on four other occasions (the most in May of 2018). Nearly a fourth of departing passengers, or 26,000, were American. The second most populous group of travellers were British, or 9,500.
Double the overnight stays compared to last year
As noted by RÚV, the number of overnight stays in Icelandic hotels in May was approximately 255,000, twice as many compared to May last year (35% of beds were in use). Icelandic residents accounted for 54,000 overnight stays in May compared to 201,000 tourists.
The total number of overnight stays in Iceland in 2021 was just over 5 million. Never before had as many Icelanders accounted for such a large percentage of those overnight stays, or 40% (almost two million). In 2019, the number of overnight stays in Iceland was 8.5 million, a figure that plummeted during the pandemic. Statistics Iceland expects a busy summer as far as foreign tourists are concerned.
