That is the advice Tourism Industry Association hotel sector regional chairwoman Penny Clark has for those thinking of visiting a resort ''bursting at the seams'' ahead of tomorrow's inaugural Air New Zealand Queenstown International Marathon.
Ms Clark, who is also the Queenstown regional chairwoman of the Tourism Industry Association, said most accommodation providers had sold out their rooms for the weekend within weeks of marathon entries becoming available.
Although November could be busy, ''you can rest-assured we weren't full this time last year''.
Entries for the event reached capacity in July, with 1890 full marathoners, 3170 half-marathoners and 850 10km runners set to hit the flat, fast course from 7.45am.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Graham Budd said the nearly 6000 runners would be accompanied to the resort by at least a similar number of friends and family members.
With the average holiday visitor spending about $300 a night, the event would pump ''many millions'' into the economy.
''It's perfect timing from a seasonal perspective, just before we get into the peak season.''
With 90% of entrants from out of town - and 10% from overseas - a ''whole batch of new people'' would experience the resort for the first time, Mr Budd said. Organiser Michelle Pepper, of Lagardere Unlimited Oceania, said almost all of the 350 volunteers needed to help run the event had been found and she was confident of having a full complement by tomorrow. With rain expected today and into the weekend, her main concern was the weather.
Motel Association Queenstown president Ann Cowan said some motels were fully booked for the weekend by June, with the majority gone by August.
Novotel Queenstown Lakeside general manager Jim Moore said the hotel was ''chocka'' last night and would be again tonight.
Although November was busier than usual, the marathon was perfectly timed for what was usually the end of the shoulder season.
Erin Baker was the greatest female triathlete during the peak of her competitive career, but was nervous about this weekend's sporting assignment.
Baker (52) is coming from Christchurch to compete and said she should have ticked the box for the half-marathon rather than the full marathon.
''I absolutely should downsize but I will give it a crack.''
Baker won several world and Ironman titles and has a best marathon time of 2hr 33min but said she had not run the longer distance for 21 years.
''This one will probably be about double that. I've been doing as much training as I'm able but there's only so much you can do at this age.
''It's always a bit of a balance between training enough and not getting injured.''
Baker's American-born husband, Scott Molina, also a famous former triathlete, is competing in the marathon, too.
''He thought he was going to run with me but he's my husband.
''He'd drive me nuts. I'd probably end up fighting with him halfway along or something.
''I own orthopaedic companies and I have worked non-stop for the last 20 years where he's trained non-stop for the last 20 years.''
