Tourist season extending
The region's rapid tourism growth is undeniable and, in addition to its growth, Wānaka is experiencing a gradual shift in its peak days too.
Many outside the region regard the town as a winter destination, but operators say summer has risen in popularity and visitors are now making the most of off-peak seasons as well.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Matt Woods said Wānaka had been seeing steady tourism from about mid-June through till mid-April, making the shoulder season next to non-existent.
Last year and this year, the twilight zone was between December and March, during which there were about 94,000 to 140,000 commercial guest stays.
The rest of last year had stable numbers ranging from about 53,000 to 70,000 guests per month, except for May and June with just over 35,000 guests each.
Hospitality businesses in Wānaka have felt the impact of this shift.
Te Wānaka Lodge co-owner Mandy Enoka said in the 17 years she had been in the industry, summer was a busy season, but it had grown over the years.
"We've had a really busy market. I think summer has extended slowly," she said.
" ... So we're now busy from November through until, like, the first of May."
Before Covid-19, the summer season would run from mid-December to mid-March, she estimated.
As the very peak of the summer season was at Christmas and New Year, some visitors were pushing their check-in dates in order to skip the high prices, Ms Enoka said.
However, the winter season was not experiencing the same visitor increase that the summer was.
While occupancy rates for the lodge used to be roughly 85% during the July school holidays, they were now sitting at 60%, and one of the most significant contributors was the late snowfall, she said.
"I think they're not necessarily wanting to commit to travelling to Wānaka when potentially the snow isn't as good."
Archway Motels and Chalets manager Mark Hamilton also said the summer had been a busy time, particularly with events such as Warbirds over Wānaka and Wheels at Wānaka.
The high number of visitors made Mr Hamilton feel the town could not handle the tourism industry it had been bolstering.
"Summer is definitely crazy. I mean, Wānaka has always been popular and now we have the R&A concert in the valley, which adds to the nightmare.
"It's like, Wānaka's really struggling, capacity-wise, which pushes your prices up, of course ... The shoulder season really hasn't eventuated," he said.
The winter saw fewer visitors who stayed longer, whereas the summer had more people coming for shorter periods.
Deputy mayor Quentin Smith said the growing peak seasons had become something to seriously consider when looking at future development.
"It's really hard to manage the infrastructure for the peaks, depending on who's riding, electricity, sewage, all of the above," he said.
Building more infrastructure was only one part of the solution. The focus also had to be on regenerative tourism, where sustainability was encouraged.
Mr Woods shared a similar opinion, pointing out that high visitor numbers needed to be considered hand in hand with resident population growth.
The demand projection from the Queenstown Lakes District Council, released in May of this year, showed the projected resident population in 2025 was 54,440, with visitor numbers on peak days averaging 68,050 people.
Looking ahead to 2035, the resident population was projected to hit 69,405 in the district and visitors on peak day to be 86,756.
Mr Woods said the growth in resident and visitor numbers meant it was necessary to look at adding more infrastructure that could be used by all those living in or visiting the district.
It was also important to look at the regenerative tourism strategy in the destination management plan, which aimed to make tourism sustainable for everyone in the region, he said.
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