With a noticeable dip in the number of visitors to Queenstown already, tour operators are bracing for a slow summer season.
Last week, Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton announced there had been a 6%-8% drop in tourist numbers nationally and Destination Queenstown acting chief executive Graham Budd said that trend had been reflected in the Queenstown market.
After a "strong" August, Mr Budd said visitor numbers had dropped "noticeably" in September. While October figures were not yet calculated, he believed they would show a similar trend and it was likely to continue over the traditionally busy summer holiday season.
"The general consensus is that visitor numbers may be down - in line with the New Zealand position - about 10% over summer," he told the Queenstown Times.
Mr Hickton's advice to operators was to market themselves to those holidaying at home but Mr Budd was not sure higher numbers of New Zealand visitors would lead to more business overall. Getting people to come to Queenstown was not the problem - it was that New Zealanders were not likely to spend as much as international travellers.
"It might help offset a bit of the decline but domestic visitors spend less," he said.
"When people go on holiday overseas or on an O. E. they want to do as much as possible," he said.
"New Zealanders coming here tend to pick and choose."
They also did not stay in the same accommodation - many either stayed with friends and family or took the camping ground option instead.
However, any extra domestic travellers would be welcomed and Mr Budd was optimistic that falling fuel prices would encourage people to pack up the car or take a flight to the resort.
The "softer" market has been noticed by hoteliers but Victoria Shaw, chairwoman of the Queenstown region of the New Zealand Hotel Association, said there had been many "last minute bookings" recently.
"People who would ordinarily have booked months in advance . . . have been making reservations for the next few weeks," she said.
While the premium end of the market had been affected by world events - the elections in the United States and the general economic downturn - people who stayed in luxury hotels and resorts had "generally done well for themselves" and were affected less.
"They may hunker down for a while but then they decide they want to start travelling again."
While North Americans and Europeans might still decide long haul was too expensive, a weaker Australian dollar might bring more transtasman visitors to town.
