At an Ignite Wanaka business event hosted at Edgewater Hotel, Ms Willis responded to regional concerns such as housing, inconsistency in educational resources, Three Waters reform and staffing shortages.
She said each of those was an acute issue and identified them as examples of bottleneck problems and barriers in current governance.
Regarding measures to address housing and labour shortages, she said, "If we don’t get them right in the next couple of months, our tourism industry is going to pay the price for years to come. It’s very critical we do something about this."
Many businesses in Queenstown and Wanaka are facing labour shortages and some fear they may not be able to handle the expected surge in tourists when borders open.
Recruitment has started for the ski season, although the Government has granted special visas to more than 200 specialists in the ski industry to come into the country.
Housing and rental pressures were continuing in the Queenstown Lakes area and rents were rising.
Ignite Wanaka chairwoman Jo Learmonth agreed things had to be put in place quickly to get the issues fixed properly.
"It does feel like we’re standing at the bottom of the mountain looking up," Ms Learmonth said.
More than 40 women attended the event.
Ms Willis is National’s finance spokeswoman and has had a career in business and senior management.
Ignite Wanaka regularly hosts events for local businesses with a focus on networking, workshops and training.
