NZSki is confident its offer of free food, accommodation and skiing for children at Mt Hutt will not detract from the number of families visiting Queenstown skifields.
Mt Hutt, the South Island's biggest commercial skifield, is operated by parent company NZSki, which also operates Queenstown's Coronet Peak and the Remarkables Ski Area.
NZSki chief executive James Coddington thought the offer would not affect Queenstown visitor numbers.
"We are confident they are two distinctly different markets - people who want to come to Queenstown come to Queenstown .. and we are also confident that we can grow that market [Mt Hutt] as opposed to cannibalising the other."
There was plenty of room for growth in the family market, with NZSki "only really capturing about 10%" of potential numbers in Australia and New Zealand.
Remarkables Ski Area had been offering free skiing for children under the age of 10 for eight years, with Coronet Peak giving complimentary passes to those under 6, he said.
"We are pretty confident it will incentivise Australians to come over the school holidays ... It's really based on how successful this has been for us at the Remarkables over the years."
The deal offers every child under 10, accompanied by a paying adult, a free return ski bus to Mt Hutt, Christchurch airport to Methven transfers and free accommodation, meals and lift passes.
It was an initiative of the Mt Hutt Marketing Group, made up of Methven businesses, Mt Hutt Ski Area, Christchurch International Airport Ltd and Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism.
