Community-led organisation Shaping Our Future (SOF) is holding a workshop in Wānaka later this month to ask locals whether they think there is too much tourism in this district.

The workshop follows research from Tourism New Zealand, government departments, Tourism Industry Aotearoa, and Regional Tourism New Zealand in May this year, which found that almost 90 percent of those surveyed agreed tourism was good for New Zealand.

While the figure was six percent higher than last May's figures, a regional breakdown showed 62 percent of people in Queenstown believed there was too much tourism in their community.

Read more: Most embrace New Zealand tourism in survey, but worry over cost of domestic holidays

SOF executive officer John Glover told the Wānaka App the organisation wanted to ask a follow up question from the survey: “why do you think that?”

“We will explore what is reality, what is perception, why people feel what they feel, what are the levers that can make a difference, and who can act,” he said. 

The SOF session will examine Wānaka’s “social carrying capacity”. PHOTO: Wānaka App

“The aim is to understand why and when our social carrying capacity is exceeded and the ‘too much’ sentiment prevails.

“Some of these questions have been asked before but mainly in relation to options that have been pre-selected. We will start with blank sheets of paper so that every voice and view can be heard without putting constraints on the thinking.”

John said the SOF workshop was independent from district regional tourism organisations (such as Lake Wānaka Tourism) and Queenstown Lakes District Council, but it is “intended to support the project on the topic that they will progress later this year”. 

Shaping Our Future executive officer John Glover. PHOTO: Supplied

“We have met with them to discuss and ensure our outputs have value for them,” he said, adding that he expected someone from Lake Wānaka Tourism to attend the Wānaka session.

Two key recommendations from the Shaping our Future Visitor Industry Task Force report in 2014 were the implementation of destination management frameworks and the creation of a destination management body for the district. 

Earlier this year the region’s first destination management plan was signed off.

Read more: New tourism plan adopted for district

“Now that this has happened we are working to support two outcomes of the local destination management plan, ‘Positive community sentiment’ and ‘researching optimal ranges of visitation in relation to desired outcomes for the community’,” John said.

SOF is holding workshops, online surveys and a social media competition around the Queenstown Lakes district “to capture the emotive, subjective, human side of the impacts of tourism – good and bad - as expressed by everyday community members”.

The Wānaka SOF session will take place at the Lake Wānaka Centre from 6.30-8.30pm on August 23

Lake Wānaka Tourism was approached for comment.

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