Queenstown Proves Itself Again As Summer Hotspot

Monday, 12 April 2010, 5:14 pm
Press Release: Destination Queenstown

Queenstown Proves Itself Again As Summer Hotspot

Queenstown has wrapped up summer with a trifecta – once again scoring the largest increase in guest nights in the country.

Latest figures from Statistics New Zealand’s Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM) show the resort’s guest nights were up 19,000 or 8.8 per cent in February compared to the same period last year, making the total this month 234,378. This follows on from topping the NZ guest night statistics also in December and January.

Destination Queenstown Chief Executive Tony Everitt says these results are fantastic on the back of what could have been a potentially tough season.

“Well done to the industry on another solid month in our post economic-downturn recovery,” he says.

“Looking ahead, the outlook is also positive. At the same time, we also need to be a little cautious as we head into our low season. ”

According to the February CAM, international guest nights in Queenstown were up 17.8 per cent to 177,881 compared with February 2009 and international guests accounted for 75.9 per cent of all guest nights. However, domestic guest nights were down 12.3 per cent to 56,497.

“This data really shows how successful DQ and the industry have been in marketing Queenstown internationally, particularly in Australia, as an exciting holiday destination,” Mr Everitt says.

“A joint venture with Air New Zealand meant DQ was able to further build on our spring and summer campaign in Australia. This partnership enabled us to extend the frequency and reach of our print and online advertising campaigns across the Tasman.”

As a result of the Australian campaigns, DQ’s website www.queenstown-nz.co.nz experienced massive growth during the three-month advertising period which ran in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from September to November.

The advertising campaign used DQ’s website as a direct call to action and resulted in a whopping 200 per cent increase of Australian traffic compared to the same period the year before – and alongside this there was a 55 per cent increase in traffic to the website overall.

Visitors lap up the Queenstown sun this summer

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