Accomodation
30. Apr 2024
Hotel stays up 1%, occupancy down 2%
Hotel overnight stays are used as a measurement of the number of visitors and the duration of their stays. Whether one person stays three nights or three persons stay one night, both scenarios count as three overnight stays.
A total of 31,785 overnight stays were registered in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024– a 3% increase on Q1 2023. This is a year-on-year increase of just over 300 stays (1%). The average monthly figure was about 10,600.
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Slight increase in check-ins
Check-ins track the number of hotel visitors regardless of the duration of their stays.
The first quarter of 2024 saw an increase of 455 check-ins (2.8%) compared to Q1 2023.
When the number of check-ins grows more than the number of overnight stays, it means that more people have visited hotels but that they have, on average, spent fewer nights each. This difference is, however, negligible. On average, hotel guests stayed 1.9 nights per check-in both Q1 2023 and Q1 2024.
The biggest change in check-ins is seen in guests residing outside of the Faroes and Denmark, with a year-on-year increase of just over 600 guests from this demographic.
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Capital region sees slight increase
A vast majority of hotel rooms are located in the capital region, and this is clearly reflected in the overnight stays figures. The captial region registered almost 650 more stays (2%) in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023. Hotels outside of the capital region saw a decline of about 300 stays, down 18% year-on-year.
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Fewer Danes, more from other countries
The number of Danish hotel guests has dropped significantly, going from 9,107 in Q1 2023 to 7,227 in Q1 2024.
This same period saw an increase of 1,649 overnight stays (22%) for foreign hotel guests residing outside of Denmark.
Faroese residents represented an increase of 548 stays, a year-on-year increase of 4%.
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Almost a third of all rooms occupied
Room nights track the number of rooms occupied over a certain period. For example, if two rooms are occupied for two nights, this counts as four room nights.
The occupancy rate shows the percentage of available hotel rooms used. Q1 2024 saw an occupancy rate of 31 percent (20,756 of 67,131 available rooms). The rate for Q1 2023 was 33%.
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Definitions
Overnight stays: in this context, an overnight stay is defined as a single night spent in a hotel. For example, if ten people spend three nights at a hotel, this counts as 30 overnight stays.
Check-ins: the number of individuals who check in at a hotel.
Room nights: the number of rooms occupied over a certain period. For example, if ten people spend three nights in five rooms, this counts as 15 room nights.
The occupancy rate shows the percentage of available hotel rooms used.
The capital region covers Tórshavn, Argir and Hoyvík.
Hotels in Suðuroy are not included in these figures.