Business News

It is very encouraging to see the business levels year to date, with visitor numbers remaining positive. While we are certainly not out to the woods yet, figures to date this year versus 12 months ago are a positive sign. It was pleasing to see the latest business confidence results for New Zealand.

There’s a buzz in the air with Queenstown operators excited about United Airlines’ new direct San Francisco – Christchurch service kicking off on December 1.

Arrowtown-based economist Benje Patterson is calling on Queenstowners to invite a lodger into their homes this winter to help ensure the town is adequately staffed this ski season.

With the ski season due to get underway next month, thousands of workers are headed for the Southern Lakes region for what’s expected to be the busiest winter since 2019.

Plans to increase housing supply and affordability in Queenstown have continued to fall short despite desperate appeals from within the community. The framework for tackling the issue includes sector-specific legislation, national policies and independent entities. We summarise some of these efforts and consider the practicalities of these alternative solutions to the housing crisis facing Queenstown.

At the conclusion of the first quarter of 2023, the commercial property market in Queenstown has maintained a steady level of activity, resulting in strong sales and leasing activity which buck the national market trends. In this article I will cover off some key trends we are seeing in the market, as well as an indication on what we see to come over the course of the year.

“Be brave. Be bold.” That’s the message from the Mayor of Queenstown Lakes’ sister city, Aspen, in the wake of Queenstown’s critical staff housing crisis.

Property Manager Beth Chisholm has been working in real estate for more than 18 years and with Ray White Queenstown for 13 of those. She has a strong knowledge of the local rental market and has seen many changes over time.

Housing affordability and accommodation availability are complex issues in the Queenstown-Lakes District. They can significantly impact the local economy, the success of businesses like yours and the health and well-being of communities in the region.

The first three months of 2023 left many Queenstown Lakes business owners and managers feeling downbeat about the road ahead.

Businesses need to navigate a minefield of tax, tenancy and employment law to offer workforce accommodation to their staff.

From the original 1967 multi-coloured ‘bubble car’ gondolas to the white 1987 issue currently being auctioned off for local charity, the famous Skyline Gondola is, and will always be, an iconic slice of Queenstown’s rich tourism history.

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.