Queenstown is "underselling itself" in terms of winery tourism, a forum has been told.
At a special-interest marketing forum about wine and winery tourism in the resort last week, Gibbston Valley Wines Ltd chief executive Greg Hunt said one out of 11 international tourists in Australia visited a winery, with between 5% and 15% of domestic tourists counting winery visits as a preferred holiday activity.
"We could be welcoming these figures.
"There are about 60,000 to 80,000 visits to Gibbston a year.
"If we can get a collective going ... imagine what that number could be."
About 30 people attended the forum, which was led by Destination Queenstown and included representatives from tourism organisations, the hospitality and restaurant industries, accommodation providers and local wineries.
Mr Hunt, who has a business and development background, said he became involved in the wine industry last year.
One of the first things he noticed was a lack of a "cohesive approach" to wine and wineries in the area.
"It really hasn't been promoted. This region has something very special. Central Otago is now recognised worldwide as ... a prime producer of pinot in particular."
Having lived in Northern California for 15 years and watched the development of Napa Valley, Mr Hunt said Central Otago had evolved similarly and was now "on the cusp" of the next change - turning wine into tourism.
"This ... is exceptionally important not only to the wine industry, but to the Queenstown industry in every facet.
"Wine tourism business involves every aspect of the local tourism business.
"It [wine] acts as the hook, then people look at all the other opportunities around that - it will bring people here, there is absolutely no question."
Mr Hunt said one of the biggest benefits for Queenstown and Central Otago was the landscape, particularly given last year's opening of the Gibbston River Trail, which had opened up the Kawarau River and provided ecological and historical experiences.
"People coming to a winery now at Gibbston ... they can do and experience a lot of other things that tick the boxes."
Destination Queenstown marketing general manager Graham Budd said the aim of the forum was to begin the process of using wine as the "primary driver" to attract people to Queenstown and the wider Central Otago region.
"This is a special-interest group choosing a destination on the basis of a wine experience.
"We have very deliberately not called this 'wine and food' ... the focus is on wine and wine tourism.
"We have great produce ... and great experiences and we all know that we have a great deal of member enthusiasm around this area of wine tourism.
"We also have the infrastructure in Queenstown that supports wine tourism."
Mr Budd said three other activities had been targeted in the resort - skiing, which had been going for a "very long time", golfing and, most recently, biking. "Already we have seen ... the benefits of getting a group of business together that have very common interests and working together.
"The purpose of [the forum] is to get us going on a journey that will last as long as you all want it to. We've got to start by starting ... where we go from here is up to all of us."
