The Wānaka community has another opportunity to have a say about the way tourism is operating in the Queenstown Lakes at a community meeting this Thursday (November 17).

The meeting follows significant public feedback on the new destination management strategy for Queenstown Lakes - the ‘Tourism for a Better Future’ draft strategy - which was shared with the district’s community in August. 

There have been more than 1,600 visits to the regenerative tourism website housing the strategy document and more than 600 downloads, resulting in 33 pieces of detailed feedback from individuals and organisations.

Lake Wānaka Tourism general manager Tim Barke said the feedback focused on key themes such as decarbonisation, climate and biodiversity, and management of visitor numbers.

“Together, the Queenstown Lakes district has the opportunity to rethink how the visitor economy works and to imagine how it can deliver social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits through tourism that also provides exceptional visitor experiences,” he said.

What is regenerative tourism?

Tim said demand is growing for “green and sustainable tourism”, and the notion of regenerative tourism is fast gathering pace.

A regenerative visitor economy is one that gives back more than it takes, a principle that is being adopted by leading places and tourism destinations internationally.

A local example of a business practising regenerative tourism is Eco Tours Wānaka which, for the past 15 years, has been planting trees to reforest Mou Waho Island, an initiative so successful that Buff Weka and other species have been reintroduced and are breeding successfully.

High country tour operator Ridgeline Adventures has implemented a predator control programme by setting trap lines which they check as part of their 4WD tourism experience.

Tim said the elimination of single use cups in many businesses and cafes in Wānaka is reducing waste going to landfill and is a good example of what the community can achieve.

“There are a large number of examples of businesses who are, and many who have been for a long time, working to regenerate ecosystems and the environments they operate in,” he said.

How might tourism marketing change?

A key element of a regenerative strategy is communicating who we are as a community, Tim said.

“By telling the stories of who we are as a community, what we love about this place, what we value, what we love to do and how we like to protect it, we can attract the type of people who this resonates with.

“We can also invite them to get involved or contribute to local initiatives underway to benefit our place, which can be supporting local cultural events, helping with regeneration of our ecosystems and conservation or contributing financially to local initiatives.”

But New Zealand is a long-haul destination

Tim said the future of New Zealand tourism requires a proposition aligned with a low carbon future as there is a growing international realisation that travel is carbon intensive and long-haul travel even more so. 

“People are realising that greenhouse gas emissions are a significant influence on climate change and the effects of which are being increasingly felt and seen internationally and in New Zealand,” he said.

“Air travel is a significant contributor to this and since we are an island and the majority of people arrive here by aircraft, this is a significant factor.”

Tim said technological solutions are rapidly evolving to reduce and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft travel with significant investment and significant customer demand for this to happen.

Creating the plan and next steps

Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) across New Zealand received government funding in 2020 from the Strategic Assets Protection Programme to develop destination management plans, in line with MBIE’s destination management guidelines. 

The region’s two RTOs, Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism, in partnership with Queenstown Lakes District Council, came together to develop a roadmap for tourism putting people and place at its centre and enabling a viable and regenerative tourism future by 2030.

International destination management experts Destination Think are partnering with the steering group to develop and enhance the strategy further, based on the feedback received.

Destination Think, which has considerable international experience with complex destination planning, will visit Queenstown Lakes in November to meet with community, stakeholders and industry to provide an update on the revised strategy and next steps with implementation.

A community meeting will be held in Wānaka this Thursday (November 17).

PHOTO: Wānaka App