Mountain-biking package deals look set to take off

Skyline's gondola-assisted service will be a part of the Queenstown Extreme Packages run by...
Skyline's gondola-assisted service will be a part of the Queenstown Extreme Packages run by Skyline and Reavers Lodge this Summer.
Queenstown has taken another step towards becoming the country's mountain-biking capital by offering bike holiday packages of accommodation, bike hire and track use.

Replicating what the resort has done for so long with ski packages, Skyline Queenstown teamed with Reavers Lodge and bike hire-tour company Vertigo Bikes to develop Queenstown Extreme Packages for the summer's mountain-bike season.

Skyline sales and marketing co-ordinator Kate McPhee said Queenstown would be the first in New Zealand to introduce such packages. She hoped they would be a success.

"As far as packages go, I think Queenstown will work really well for it. We're kind of leading the pack on this one."

The packages will include six of Wakatipu's main cycle trails.

Patrons would be picked up from the airport, stay at the lodge and there hire bikes and equipment and be transported to any of the trails.

Reavers Lodge operations manager Todd Schmidt said the three- to four-night packages could be the difference between cyclists visiting the resort town or Queenstown's main biking rival, Rotorua.

The lodge is near the bottom of the Skyline gondola and Mr Schmidt said he hoped to get resource consent to use the paper road running between the two.

While still in its infancy with offering tailored packages, Reavers Lodge enjoyed a busy ski season and Mr Schmidt hoped this would continue into summer with bikes.

Miss McPhee said the venture was a "growth opportunity" for the mountain-biking scene and hoped that once the word got out, more cyclists would come.

Queenstown cycle tourism has developed in the past few seasons with more using the region's tracks.

The counter at Wynyard Express read 8000 during its five-month season, and 9000 cyclists took to the Seven Mile track in summer.

Last January Skyline opened up its gondola-assisted service for cyclists to use its trails - becoming the first in New Zealand to do so.

During the four-month trial, 5000 people completed more than 58,000 runs down the mountain.

 

 

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