Diversifying our economy

We need to ensure our economy is resilient and future-proofed with high value jobs.

Who we work with

Startup Queenstown Lakes Study Queenstown Film Otago Southland

Support for existing businesses

We also support growth and development for existing businesses. Key partners in this space include NZTE, Callaghan Innovation, the Regional Business Partners Network, and the Chambers of Commerce in Queenstown and Wānaka.

Key projects

New niches and specialisms

Identifying specialisms and supporting them to grow is a key part of diversifying the economy. A growing local niche we have been supporting is technology for tourism - technology that can be used to drive productivity, customer experience, and the product offering. In 2019, our district hosted the inaugural TourismTech expo which showcased a large number of local tourism tech exhibitors. 

Remote worker economy

We recently commissioned research about people who live in our district but work for clients or employers elsewhere. Often these people work under the radar but our survey showed they are keen to get more connected locally. The summary is available to view below.

Diversification in Queenstown Lakes

Diversification in Queenstown Lakes explores the context around diversification in the Queenstown Lakes district and looks at what others have done, with case studies from the USA, Sweden, Chile and Australia. The findings are found below.

Home for Healthier Business

A campaign initiative to promote and attract diverse businesses to Queenstown Lakes and highlight the growing diversity in our economy: https://healthierbusiness.org/

Developing a regional approach

The regions across Otago are increasingly connected places. Because of this, the EDU partnered with regional counterparts to create an economic development framework. This framework helps to identify and progress opportunities to improve the economic wellbeing of the residents, employees and employers across the Otago region: https://www.qldc.govt.nz/community/economic-development/future-proofed-infrastructure