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Queenstown Lakes regenerative tourism strategy, which includes the ambitious Carbon Zero 2030 goal, has been given a ringing endorsement by the district's councillors.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has lifted water restrictions across the district.

Alice Robinson has made a strong start to her 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships campaign, claiming a seventh-place finish in the Super G overnight NZT.

The Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) is launching a regular series of events for locals to share views with their elected members.

An innovative peer-to-peer education programme has proven to be a successful model for improving mental health knowledge and skills, particularly amongst hard to reach and ethnically diverse communities, according to a new report released by Headlight.

Is this the future of transport in Queenstown? An electric driverless minibus is transporting passengers  about 70 metres along Beach Street this afternoon, from outside Absoloot Hostel QT, before turning around and coming back.

The Shotover Moonlight Mountain Marathon and Trail Runs return for the 11th edition on the 17 and 18 February 2023.

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.

Ruby Star Andrews has claimed the first World Cup podium of her career at the FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup held in California.

One bleak English day while operating a digger a young Doug Champion saw a plane passing over and thought, “Gee, I want to be somewhere else’. An Agricultural College graduate, he worked hard in his transport company job saving to travel, buying a 327pound one-way ship-jet ticket from England to Perth. It was a week-long journey.

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.

Motorists across the country can expect to see an increased police presence on our roads over Waitangi Day Weekend.

Beijing 2022 Olympian Finn Bilous has finished in fifth place at the second stop of the 2023 Freeride World Tour overnight held in Ordino Arcalís, Andorra. Bilous was the top performing Kiwi in what is his rookie Freeride World Tour season.

An array of Central Otago’s winemakers and food producers joined forces from 26 – 29 January to bring us Roam Central. The schedule included 19 events that were spread across 38 wineries and involved dozens of chefs and food producers.