Supporting tourism to become regenerative

One of our areas of focus is gaining more value from the visitor industry. This is because tourism is our district's largest industry and employs almost half of our local workforce.

Destination Queenstown and Lake Wanaka Tourism market our district internationally and nationally. And from the visitors who are attracted here, the Economic Development team works to maximise the benefits to our community. This includes efforts to increase the margins and wages in the industry and the ability to find and retain staff.

Key projects

Understanding the Lifetime value of the visitor

For too long we have focused on measuring the value of tourism by adding up the transactions made while the visitor is in New Zealand. But such a method neglects the longer-term influence that visit may have on a person’s subsequent consumption, investment, study, and migration choices. The EDU is working with partners Central Otago District Council and Auckland Unlimited to research the life-time value of the visitor which will help curate the visitor experience, with the aim of more effectively influencing visitors’ long-term choices and economic benefit to NZ once they return home.

Destination Management Planning

The pandemic has created a unique opportunity to rethink the visitor sectors purpose, the principles by which we operate and how we measure success. QLDC has partnered with DQ and Lake Wanaka Tourism to develop a destination management plan for the district – Regenerative tourism by 2030.  More information on the vision and key dates can be found at:  https://www.queenstownnz.co.nz/regenerative-tourism-2030/

Tourism Marketing Organisations

Destination Queenstown

www.queenstownnz.co.nz 

Lake Wanaka Tourism

www.lakewanaka.co.nz