Teeing off for a top summer

Queenstown’s teeing off for a boomer summer, with bookings on par or slightly ahead of last year’s record numbers, pre-election Americans undeterred, and Aussie and Kiwi golfers champing at the bit to get here.

It’s likely to be so busy on the fairways that golf course managers are urging people to book well in advance with heavy bookings from large groups from this weekend through November and out into a very busy March.

“We’re already fully booked for about half of March and the other days are close to that,” Millbrook golf operations manager Tom Buttenshaw says. Tee times are in demand and golfers should get in early to avoid disappointment. “I just had a guest couple play two days and want another day, but we’re fully booked for five days.”

More than half of this month (November) has been fully booked for three months. Groups from eight to 124 are rolling in from Australia and New Zealand. “Golf bookings are stronger than last year, every month this year we’re stronger,” Buttenshaw says.

Millbrook director of operations Brian Howie’s confident of a strong summer for golf and accommodation with the Australian market very positive about Queenstown.

Queenstown Golf Club general manager Andrew Bell says anyone wanting a casual game should book well ahead. “We’ve got bookings into 2026.”

Queenstown’s a favourite with Aussie, European and American golfing groups, and post Kiwi holiday period from late January until the end of March will be very busy.

Jack’s Point’s Anthony O’Brien says they’re “chocka” for this month with “quite significant bookings” into early 2025 right through into April, many of them Australians. He’s urging book early too.

Crowne Plaza Queenstown general manager Stewart Manson says summer’s “definitely really good” for his hotel with a lot of golf groups all through summer too. “We’re holding better this year with more bookings for January, February and March than we had this time last year,” Manson says. “Everyone’s optimistic.”

Kiwis are still travelling but Manson says their discretionary spend is down on what it used to be. “They’re still travelling; however, I don’t think they’re spending as much on hospitality. They’re not going out for dinner as much. We’re seeing a lot more Uber Eats and deliveries in rooms now.”

Queenstown Airport Corporation is expecting about 125,000 passengers to arrive and depart from the airport during the peak two weeks of Christmas and New Year. General manager sustainability and corporate affairs Sara Irvine says bookings are very strong for December, January and February, “definitely on par with our busiest summers”.

“At present we’re looking at about 700,000 passenger movements in and out on par with last year,” she says. December, and January which is particularly strong, are even up a bit on last year. There’s strong demand for international trans-Tasman flights with the 70/30 domestic versus international balance shifting to 65/35.

“That’s been a trend for the last couple of months and it looks to continue.”

 

Destination Queenstown CEO Mat Woods says it’s looking “really strong” for summer from November through until April. “Our forward outlook is roughly 8% ahead of this time last year,” he says.

“There’s good demand domestically, which is great to see, and Australia is really strong as is the US, probably due to the weak dollar,” Woods says. The Chinese market is coming back but moving away from coach travel into more free independent travel.

Hoteliers say that while American visitors have traditionally held off to book until after an election, they’re definitely not doing that this time with strong US bookings.

The Rees CEO Mark Rose says we’re a cheap destination for Americans and while they’ve traditionally been hesitant to book with an election looming that’s not the case this year with his American bookings way up.

Mexico is emerging as a good high-end market and Rose is focusing on Asia, while Australian numbers are very buoyant. “Our occupancies are the same as last year and last year was a record year,” Rose says. He’s confident of a strong summer but concerned that major roadworks may ruin people’s holiday experience. “We’ve got to offer value and be careful of that word-of-mouth experience,” he says. “Frankton Road was full from town to our hotel one morning last week so I emailed staff to say allow an extra 30 minutes for airport transfers. We can’t afford to have someone miss a plane. That was October so that’s scary.”

Hotel St Moritz general manager Jo Finnigan says the Northern Hemisphere travellers are booking early, and the US market is strong, undeterred by their upcoming election. She’s almost booked out over Christmas and New Year, as is the norm.

Most Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park rooms from 1 November on have been booked out “very far in advance” and sites, usually available several days out, have been filling earlier this year, front office manager Sam Welton says.