Nearly 30 years on, he owns Wānaka Backpackers Bothy in the centre of town, worth over $6 million, and it is up for sale.
‘‘I was a cheap backpacker. I ate noodles and 15 years later I came back with the dollars.’’
After his time in New Zealand, Mr Brown went to London and worked in human resources in an office job, dreaming up a different life in Wānaka where he could be in the great outdoors and on the lake.
He now owns Eco Adventures Wānaka, a nature-focused tourist operator that includes tours on Rob Roy Glacier, lake cruises, the Blue Pools, heli hikes and more.
But he is selling the backpackers because he has seen a shift in local tourism — tourists visiting our shores are expecting more, compared with the low-end, skint backpackers of only five years ago, and most certainly the 1990s.
Mr Brown said while his backpackers business was still getting the volumes, it was government officials who did his market area a disservice.
‘‘The government a few years ago said they don’t want low-value tourists — that’s backpacker, isn’t it?’’
In 2022, then minister of tourism, Stuart Nash, announced New Zealand was looking for ‘‘high-value tourists’’ after Covid-19 restrictions had locked the gate to the rest of the world.
He also said people who visited New Zealand and bought vans which were not self-contained and spent as little as $10 a day were ‘‘not really the sort of tourists’’ the country wanted.
‘‘Now, it doesn’t mean that we’re going to close the borders, of course, for those who spend $10 a day . . .but those who will be targeted will be those who spend money in our communities, and what we call high-value tourists.’’
Mr Brown said his friends and family back in the United Kingdom saw that, and it had a ripple effect for those looking at travelling.
‘‘There is definitely a shift. There aren’t so many people travelling on a low budget. They are expecting a different level of service.
‘‘It is making it difficult for people that want to travel economically and makes it difficult for a business, but you cannot charge more for the same.’’
Mr Brown’s backpackers attracts tourists, but he says it would likely need some level of upgrade to reel in the market now more commonly seen in Wānakaand Queenstown, and generally across the board.
‘‘It is not the volume of people, it is the shift in demographic. People are coming to New Zealand expecting more and they have higher expectations, and that is difficult at the bottom end of the market.’’
He added businesses were struggling to get staff in hospitality, because many of those backpacking could not afford accommodation, and several local backpackers had been bought by overseas brands.
Intrepid Travel recently acquired Haka Tours, a Queenstown-based tour operator. It also operates Adventure Queenstown Hostel, marketed as a boutique backpackers accommodation run by experienced travellers.
The Backpackers Bothy for sale employs about five staff, has over 40 rooms and sits on 1800sq m of land.
Mr Brown bought the business in 2018 and had made a good living off it.
‘‘The real estate market has really skyrocketed.’’
