Questions asked about district's cultural attraction for tourists

Are there no cultural, heritage and educational attractions for tourists to visit in Queenstown, or are the existing sights not promoted enough?

The poser was raised by councillors at the Queenstown Lakes District Council strategy committee meeting yesterday.

A tabled tourism monitoring report said Queenstown's tourists were more likely to participate in a wide range of activities and attract-ions than their peers in the other monitored regions of Dunedin, Christchurch and Canterbury, Wellington, Rotorua and Auckland.

However, participation in the resort's cultural, heritage and educational activities were the glaring exception.

"Is it because we don't have any?" committee chairwoman Gillian Macleod asked.

Mrs Macleod said Queenstown did have popular heritage areas, such as Skippers Canyon, and she described the Lakes District Museum, in Arrowtown, as "fantastic".

However, there were not many "heritage statements" made by the council or Destination Queenstown.

Cr Lex Perkins said the council already knew about the successful ski season and how the Australian market had offset the drop in long-haul markets over the past year, as detailed in the report.

He said his big concern was international arrivals were up slightly, by 0.3%, for the month of November last year, which was still below November 2007.

Mr Perkins said Queenstown needed a conference centre.

Low occupancy rates in Wanaka, at 31%, compared with Queenstown's occupancy rate of 50% surprised Wanaka Community Board member Carrick Jones.

Cr John Mann wanted to know what percentage of Wanaka visitors used Queenstown as a gateway, which might affect Wanaka's occupancy.

Policy and planning general manager Philip Pannett said it would be useful to consult Queenstown Airport, but it would not have information on free and independent travellers, or campervans.

Cr John R Wilson called for more research on how to attract visitors who would give the most back to the community through spending.

The increasing number of day-trippers, who flew in and out of Queenstown, needed to be factored into tourism figures, he said.

The regional visitor monitor reported visitors' expectations of unique wildlife in Queenstown continued to grow, while expectations of scenic beauty and adventure and excitement remained steady.

Wanaka enjoyed the largest percentage increase in guest nights anywhere in New Zealand over the past year - an 18% rise in November 2009, compared with the corresponding month in 2008, and twice more than Queenstown, which decreased by 1.3%.

The average length of stay in Wanaka rose from 1.97 nights to 2.11 nights, but Queenstown's average fell from 2.29 nights to 2.2 nights, year-on-year.