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by Mat Woods - Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism

Summer in Queenstown Lakes always brings a renewed sense of energy. This year, after an unsettled spring, we are starting to see longer days and warmer weather encouraging outdoor activities, exploring our backyard, and making the most of our world class trails, lakes, adventure, hospitality, and shops. While we are a four-season destination, the next few months are our peak season - a busy period for businesses and residents alike.

For business owners and staff, that means longer hours, more to do in those hours, and high expectations. To all of you, we thank you. The service, resilience and manaakitaka you provide remain the backbone of our visitor experience, and our visitor satisfaction results consistently reflect that.

Many of our residents work within the tourism industry, of course, but all our residents contribute to what makes this place so special, and collectively we all feel the pressures from the extra demand placed on our roads, services, and community spaces. Unfortunately, investment in public infrastructure has not matched the pace of visitor and residential growth. Last month, the gridlock around Queenstown Marathon showed how close we are to breaking point. It was a stress test on our systems, that we did not pass.

This is a solutions-focused town though, and 2026 brings hope. Southern Infrastructure’s Queenstown Cable Car project has been submitted for Fast Track planning, while the Christchurch company Whoosh has applied for resource consent for a Remarkables Park trial. Just last week, a gondola and a replacement for Edith Cavell Bridge at Arthurs Point were added to the country’s latest list of 25 nationally significant infrastructure priorities. We are hopeful there will be movement on both.

Without investment, the Infrastructure Commission estimates congestion-related losses of up to $1.2 billion over 40 years for Queenstown Lakes. It is therefore critical an infrastructure funding mechanism is delivered through the Tourism Growth Roadmap and / or the Regional Deal next year. We’ve also been lobbying for a National Tourism Development Authority, to manage the impact from the ever-present demand from tourists wanting to come to New Zealand, and therefore Queenstown Lakes.

Central Government plans to increase visitation numbers nationally from 3.6m to 4.7m by 2034. Our destination management plan, Travel to a Thriving Future, which is focused on creating a truly regenerative visitor industry, is therefore crucial to the future of the district, and has made significant progress over this past year. It aims to attract high-contributing visitors who stay longer, travel further in our region, forge connections with locals and give back, essentially becoming temporary locals.

There’s also plenty to look forward to in 2026, with the opening of the Kawarau Gorge Trail, new bars and restaurants, more wellness offerings, and dozens of other tourism-related activities we can all enjoy. Have a great summer and remember to have extra patience and kindness towards frontline staff in all our wonderful businesses.