Business News

The complexities of Queenstown’s worker accommodation shortage were laid bare at the first Staff Housing Information Series, run by the resort’s Chamber of Commerce.

When your local student pub isn’t operating to its full potential you buy it and fix the problem, right?

QRC’s Machine Learning Tutor and Tech Ambassador, believes that artificial intelligence (AI) technology can help alleviate some pressure on Queenstown’s hospitality and tourism industry.

What makes you buy something? What makes you behave in a certain way? Like all good marketers, Dave Hockly knows the answers to those questions. But what really interests him is using cold, hard data to dig down into the detail of people’s decisions, adapt marketing strategies and measure the results and revenue.

Queenstown’s planned $6 million digital studio will provide a blank canvas, and also modern-day brushes and paint, for filmmakers, game designers, content creators, and a host of other creative and corporate projects.

Discussions have been underway with tech companies and investors keen to back entrepreneur Roger Sharp and not-for-profit Whakatipu Hangarau Trust’s bid to establish a tech development agency for the Queenstown Lakes region.

As the new Shadow Spokesperson for Tourism, I’m really excited to work with the country’s tourism industry to show off all the amazing things our country has to offer.

Long before it was fashionable for restaurants and destinations to sell themselves around ‘story’ an innovative Queenstown company was doing just that, creating ‘magic’ in the process.

Tech solutions could help to alleviate staff shortages and improve productivity for Queenstown Lake’s struggling hospitality and tourism sectors.

Startup Queenstown Lakes’ business coach Marco Dingemans has recently stepped into the newly-created role of General Manager. Startup Queenstown Lakes (SQL) helps local entrepreneurs launch, run, and scale their businesses through courses and workshops. Marco’s diverse background has led him to his current role and owning his own Pilates studio on Glenda Drive – growing up in the Netherlands before moving to London for ten years, he has a background in marketing and is excited to hit the ground running in 2023.

Shaun Kelly is the Managing Director at Absoloot Hostel QT on Beach Street. There were times when the borders were closed that the hostel was running at just 25% occupancy, and at one stage the business went into a bit of a hibernation.

While the economic tidal wave is threatening to dump on the other side of the world, down under in Queenstown everyone’s still swimming at the beach. A recession is forecast, but it hasn’t yet hit. However, those in the know locally say that while Queenstown is well positioned to hopefully take less of a hit than some places, it’s time to get our life jackets on.

Mark Quickfall has learned a lot in his 40-plus year tourism career, but nothing could’ve prepared him for the events of the past three years. It’s definitely not the first major crisis to have hit the tourism industry while he’s been in the game, but it was definitely the worst by far.

Interesting isn’t it, talk of a looming recession when the reality for local businesses right now is that we are leaving so much unmet demand on the table. A bitter pill for many businesses to swallow after years of waiting for demand to return. Forget about the prospect of people losing jobs; we have far more jobs than people willing (and able) to work in them.

It’s a case of ‘make hay while the sun shines’ for Queenstown business ahead of another uncertain year. Tens of thousands of holidaymakers have flooded into the district for the summer season, bringing much-needed revenue, as the tourism industry and life in general bounces back quicker than expected from years of pandemic restrictions.

Early-stage funding for businesses in the lower South Island is a problem that Mainland Angel Investors (MAI) is helping solve. It works to connect fledgling businesses with investors – and its next pitch evening is in mid-February.

The fabulous food, divine drinks and thoughtful service Future Hospitality Group is known for are front and centre at its latest Queenstown venue. The unusually-named ‘Odd Saint’, in homage to its location alongside St Peter’s Church in the heart of town, arose in a spot that housed a much-loved locals café run by previous owners for 15 years.

When a couple of passionate, meat loving South Americans got chatting while working at Sofitel Queenstown in 2007, little did they know they’d soon be preaching meat to Kiwis and leading the charge.

Barbara Bridger is the new chief executive of Central Lakes Trust (CLT).

The Christmas dust has settled, the New Year has begun and summer is well and truly underway. Many Queenstown hospitality businesses are reporting pre-covid levels of customers and Queenstown airport supports this sentiment with international passenger arrivals surpassing 2019 numbers. This summer is set to be the busiest one in several years, and it appears staffing shortages are slowly turning around – so what’s expected for the rest of the seaso