Implementation of Travel to a Thriving Future.
The destination management group (DMG) will begin the implementation of each project by following a 7-30-90 model:
- First 7 days: The DMG assigns a project leader.
- First 30 days: Allocate resources, including members of the project task force.
- First 90 days: Present plan to the DMG, including KPIs and targets that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. Determine the role of the project team toward achieving those goals: lead, support, or advocate.
- After 12 months: Report the results against the plan, iterate for the next 12-month cycle until project completion.
To match local government planning processes, Travel to a Thriving Future will be reviewed and updated every three years. That enables the Destination Management Group to learn, revise the plan and improve moving forward.
The timing also allows reviews of this plan to be aligned with both the district and regional government’s long-term planning and budgeting processes.
Timeline
Pillar 1: Enrich communities and enhance the visitor experience
Project 1: Community Engagement
Ensure that continual input from residents provides a better understanding of how tourism can support community plans, values and cultural heritage. Community identity and values of place are understood and supported by the community, tourism businesses and visitors.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Co-create a schedule of regular opportunities to listen to and engage proactively with communities across the district. | |||
| 2. Use existing community plans to bring local values to life, and work with council and community organisations to support the development of plans for communities that do not yet have them. | |||
| 3. Build a solid understanding of mātauraka Māori and cultural heritage stories that are accurate and told by the appropriate storytellers. Work closely with Kāi Tahu to honour stories and share the right ones in the right way to avoid cultural appropriation. | |||
| 4. Continue to raise awareness about the mana of tikaka, taoka and matauraka Māori (Māori knowledge, values and protocols) at the local level. Advocate for integrating these into community plans to enhance the visibility and connection of Māori cultural heritage. | |||
| 5. Identify opportunities to support local events, activities, facilities and initiatives which help reinforce community identity, values and a unique sense of place | |||
| 6. Ensure that the Business excellence programme (Project 16) includes a toolkit and training that makes it easy for tourism businesses to integrate and support the values of the communities where they operate, enabling communities to support the progress of those businesses where appropriate. | |||
| 7. Work with Tourism New Zealand and third-party travel trade organisations to raise awareness of and support for our community values-based approach. |
Project 2: Tiaki Promise: Lead By Example
Using the kaupapa of the Tiaki Promise as a starting point, set standards for residents and visitors to treat the region with respect through their actions.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Amplify and reinforce the kaupapa (intention and principles) of the Tiaki Promise throughout the district in a consistent way so that the values of Tiaki become a commonly used benchmark of behaviours. | |||
| 2. Encourage local agencies, communities and tourism businesses to champion the Tiaki Promise so that all visitors are aware of it and understand it. | |||
| 3. Identify and acknowledge examples of behaviour and practices that align with the Tiaki Promise so that there are a growing number of leading examples to inspire others. | |||
| 4. Work with local environmental organisations to identify opportunities to better celebrate and share environmental actions and experiences with visitors and locals. |
Project 3: Preserve and Celebrate Kāi Tahutaka and Mātauraka
Honour our role as Takata Tiriti (People of the Treaty) and in support of Te Ao Māori. In partnership with Kāi Tahu, recognise, value and celebrate Kāi Tahutaka and mātauraka, including Kāi Tahu stories of place. The cultural heritage and stories of Kāi Tahu and settlers relating to place are to be accurately understood, acknowledged and valued.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Establish an effective and strong working partnership with authorised Kāi Tahu, Rūnaka and mana whenua representatives to enable their active involvement in destination planning. | |||
| 2. Work with takata whenua and mana whenua to develop a clear and shared understanding of the district’s cultural taonga as a cultural values map. | |||
| 3. Enable and support broad community understanding and appreciation of Te Ao Māori, The Treaty of Waitangi and mātauraka Māori (Māori knowledge). This includes raising awareness of the Kāi Tahu legends and stories of place, which are authorised by Kāi Tahu to be shared. |
Project 4: Place-based Destination Planning
Develop local, place-based plans to define market segments that align to this Regenerative Tourism Plan and aligned promotional and tourism investments. Ensure alignment to Vision Beyond 2050.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Research capacity and optimal ranges of visitation in relation to desired outcomes for the community from visitation. | |||
| 2. Determine optimal ranges of visitation (considering seasonality) and set objectives based on those levels. | |||
| 3. Define strategies that consider yield, value per visitor, length of stay and total income/value of the visitor economy to achieve the objectives of this plan. | |||
| 4. Use outcomes from the regular community forums (Project 1), community plans, and partnership with takata whenua and mana whenua to create a place-based planning approach. | |||
| 5. Ensure place-based plans bring the Vision Beyond 2050 goals to life by using it as a framework for initiatives, programmes and communications. | |||
| 6. Align regional tourism organisation marketing and communication campaigns with community values, the place-based plans and a regenerative mindset. |
Project 5: Welcome Programme
Develop a migrant and visitor welcome programme that empowers communities to be welcoming hosts. Use this as an opportunity to educate visitors on values. Leverage tourism as the gateway for economic development.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Identify arrival touchpoints where visitors and migrants can receive a welcome, assistance, and education from the destination. Determine how existing visitor servicing can support the experience at these locations and times. | |||
| 2. Develop the substance for visitor education related to local values and cultures. | |||
| 3. Set a goal for number of visitors intercepted and connections made by email or other methods, and identify resources that can be used to reach the goal. | |||
| 4. Determine if there is potential to connect with visitors (e.g., through email or more sophisticated technology) for repeat visitation and economic development. Align this effort with the forthcoming economic diversification plan and with the Welcoming Communities Programme (QLDC in partnership with Immigration NZ). |
Project 6: Arts, Culture & Heritage Development
Enable Māori and non-Māori to tell the stories of their heritage and connections to this place in a way that impacts visitors. Align with DoC’s Heritage and Visitor Strategy, Tohu Whenua and The Tiaki Promise.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Work in partnership with Kāi Tahu as mana whenua to explore opportunities to increase cultural heritage experiences and emphasise the real Māori stories connected with this place. | |||
| 2. Research and understand the level of visitor interest for existing or new cultural, arts and heritage experiences, and use the research to support investment in local arts, culture, heritage initiatives and infrastructure that will also appeal to visitors. | |||
| 3. Work with the district’s creative communities and its local arts and cultural organisations to identify opportunities to celebrate and share arts and cultural experiences better with our visitors. | |||
| 4. Contribute to the ongoing development of arts, culture and heritage planning within the district to ensure that any future plans recognise the potential for visitor interest in this area (e.g., through a culture trail). |
Pillar 2: Restore the environment and decarbonise the visitor economy
Project 7: Measure Environmental Footprint
Establish a baseline for measuring the visitor economy’s environmental footprint. Define a process for regular re-assessment. Align with Climate and Biodiversity Action Plan, Lighting Strategy, Waste Minimisation and Management Plan.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Understand tourism’s contribution to landfill waste, if necessary in light of existing plans. | |||
| 2. Develop a suite of SMART measurements to understand the state of biodiversity health. | |||
| 3. Define all types of pollution as a result of the visitor economy and establish a baseline measurement. Consider a framework like the Biosphere Plan, which takes the 17 UN SDGs and tailors them to the tourism industry context. | |||
| 4. Assess ecosystem degradation as a result of tourism. | |||
| 5. Conduct an assessment of existing environmental protection and restoration projects (and any contribution from the tourism industry). | |||
| 6. Determine an ongoing process for measurement of negative and positive impacts on the environment as a result of tourism. |
Project 8: Measure Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Understand the current visitor economy’s carbon footprint, including Scope 3 emissions from transportation. Establish a framework and process for ongoing periodic measurement.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Engage a recognised expert to conduct a detailed assessment of total emissions and emissions per visitor dollar. | |||
| 2. Consider a top level estimate of in-destination vs Scope 3 (transportation emissions) to guide marketing plan (Foundational project 4). | |||
| 3. Ensures tourism businesses are analysing their own emissions. |
Project 9 (Keystone): Carbon Zero By 2030
This keystone project is the effort to decarbonise the visitor economy of Queenstown Lakes by 2030. Partners and tourism businesses will collaborate in planning and implementing pathways to reaching carbon zero. This project needs to align with and supercharge the Spatial Plan, the Climate and Biodiversity plan and QLDC transport plan, and it needs to support the district’s growing capacity for renewable energy. It is ambitious. Follow the progress of Project 9 (Keystone): Carbon Zero By 2030.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Take responsibility for addressing the transportation emissions (Scope 3) that bring visitors and supplies to Queenstown Lakes. | |||
| 2. Decarbonise the built environment (hotels, restaurants, airport, meeting spaces, etc.) including improving energy efficiency. | |||
| 3. Decarbonise emissions associated with visitor experiences, hospitality and attractions. | |||
| 4. Identify system-wide initiatives that will increase the length of visitor stays, while reducing their emissions profile. | |||
| 5. Reduce polluting emissions from road vehicles and relieve traffic congestion by improving infrastructure and changing traveller behaviour. | |||
| 6. Ensure support for businesses to make the transition, similar to the New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme Plus (NZFAP Plus). | |||
| 7. Consider incorporating a price on carbon or advocating for national carbon pricing to reduce complexity and increase adoption and or other high-leverage points. | |||
| 8. Secure funding to implement all of the above activities and any others that move the district toward decarbonisation. This plan is ambitious, and to be successful it will take all types of funding; private, public, access to debt finance, non-dilutive public capital, and philanthropy. |
Project 10: Zero Environmental Footprint
Nature (Te Taiao) and its health is very important to our community, with many people choosing to live here specifically because of our unique and special environment. A plan should be developed to ensure the environmental footprint (measured in Project 7) is mitigated. Key issues include: water quality, waste, conservation programmes, light pollution, raising environmental awareness, ecological restoration programmes, environmental regeneration, predator trapping and relevant science programmes. It is vital for local communities to be proactive, as factors contributing to environmental degradation are complex and often hard to see until it is too late.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Disincentivise landfill use or otherwise align to existing waste management plan. Refer to QLDC’s data to waste and materials diversion. | |||
| 2. Support businesses to reduce and eliminate adverse impacts on the district’s biodiversity. | |||
| 3. Develop and support existing education and outreach initiatives to change visitor behaviour regarding local environmental issues. | |||
| 4. By 2025, all visitor economy businesses have practical environmental, waste minimisation, light pollution and sustainability improvement plans in place. | |||
| 5. Pollution of waterways from visitor economy activities is eliminated. Refer to ORC data on the health of streams and lakes. | |||
| 6. Reduce waste in the design, construction, operation and end-of life of facilities and infrastructure associated with the visitor economy. | |||
| 7. Support the visitor economy in improving the health and quality of local water systems, as well as reforestation. |
Project 11: Restoring Ecosystems
Develop a migrant and visitor welcome programme that empowers communities to be welcoming hosts. Use this as an opportunity to educate visitors on values. Leverage tourism as the gateway for economic development.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Select or create one pilot/hero project in year 1 | |||
| 2. Promote existing initiatives with practical opportunities for tourism businesses and visitors to give time and/or money toward improving biodiversity outcomes. | |||
| 3. Investigate and support accreditation options for tourism businesses that partner with local environmental groups to deliver measurable, enduring outcomes for Te Taiao. | |||
| 4. Support initiatives that enable businesses to offset carbon emissions through native forest planting projects that are local and permanent (aligned to Oxford Principles). | |||
| 5. Support relevant research to understand the health and economic value of deep alpine lakes: Whakatipu, Wānaka and Hāwea. | |||
| 6. Visitors and tourism businesses support and participate in local pest eradication and biodiversity restoration projects with firm targets. | 0 |
Pillar 3: Build economic resilience, capability and productivity
Project 12: Economic Leakage Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis
Gain a detailed understanding of the benefits of tourism that stay in the community, and the costs associated with the visitor economy. A portion of visitor spending does not stay in the local economy; it leaves the district to offshore companies that own, promote or sell experiences here. This is called economic leakage. In a free-trade environment and global marketplace, some leakage is unavoidable, but there are benefits to ensuring that as much revenue as possible stays and re-circulates in the local economy. The outcome should result in a more holistic understanding
of the broader net value of the visitor economy, which includes economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts. The data from this project should inform projects to develop the Decarbonisation Plan and Marketing Plan.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Quantify the income from the visitor economy that stays in the community, (i.e., net of leakage) including direct and indirect contributions to tax base. | |||
| 2. Assess the hidden costs associated with infrastructure, environmental degradation and community quality of life. | |||
| 3. Quantify the non-financial benefits of tourism to the community, including reputation, the workforce, and economic development. | |||
| 4. Research initiatives and opportunities for minimising economic leakage and maximising the portion of visitor spending and tourism business profits that are reinvested within the local economy. |
Project 13: Direct Funding For Infrastructure
Supporting visitor levy projects, such as the one proposed by QLDC, will ensure that residents and communities do not pay for costs that should be covered by visitors or the visitor economy. One outcome will be that local infrastructure is sufficient to meet the needs of local communities and visitors.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Support existing work to establish an effective local visitor levy. Advocate for the levy to be aligned with the guiding principles of this plan, where the funds are protected to ensure that infrastructure and resources for visitors do not impose unfair costs on communities. |
Project 14: Love Wānaka/Love Queenstown
This project completes the work already begun to create local community funds that will provide opportunities to receive and hold funds that support environmental and community goals. It may also support projects that visitors can get involved with and provide an option for visitors to give back financially. Follow the progress of Project 14: Love Wānaka/Love Queenstown.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Establish a community fund that targets visitor give-back and financial contributions to support social and environmental outcomes. | |||
| 2. Develop platforms that enable visitor give-back programmes. |
Project 15: Product Evolution Programme
Develop and evolve the tourism product in line with the vision of this strategy to build the destination brand. Shape demand for products aligned with Travel to a thriving future.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Measure the quality of the destination experience according to visitor sentiment. | |||
| 2. Develop destination-wide experience(s). | |||
| 3. Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and provide education to ensure that Queenstown Lakes and its tourism experiences welcome people of all kinds. This includes communities which are marginalised, vulnerable, oppressed or underrepresented along lines of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, sexual and gender orientations (LGBTQIA+), or disability. | |||
| 4. Improve accessibility throughout the district’s visitor experiences, including its tourism facilities, products and services, to accommodate visitors and residents of varying abilities. | |||
| 5. Aid businesses to make their experiences more competitive (and subsequently higher-yield) | 3 |
Project 16: Tourism Business Excellence Programme
With thoughtful design, businesses can simultaneously increase yield, reduce pressure on the environment and residents, and improve the visitor experience. To that end, this project will improve capability and resilience in regenerative tourism practices by working alongside existing initiatives in business learning and development. The outcome of the program should be improved
productivity, resulting in higher economic margin per visitor and environmental, social and community benefits.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Ensure a common understanding of what Travel to a Thriving Future means among visitor economy stakeholders. | |||
| 2. Work with local organisations to provide mentoring, training, information, resources and other useful ongoing support for tourism business owners, managers and employees. | |||
| 3. Support tourism businesses, their guides and staff to build their knowledge and understanding of local cultural heritage. | |||
| 4. Support existing and new local Māori tourism businesses. | |||
| 5. Establish an effective business collaboration and peer-learning forum to explore and address issues that can improve business productivity and resilience, increasing profitability per FTE. | |||
| 6. Help owners design business models that increase yield and where a higher volume of visitors and experiences is not necessary to be successful. Enable them to compete on quality and unique, rich experiences rather than on price. | |||
| 7. Share learning and case studies of businesses that are leading the way towards a regenerative future to provide practical examples for others to follow. | |||
| 8. Encourage and support successful, sustainable local tourism businesses to enter relevant national and international business awards that recognise excellence in regenerative business practices. | |||
| 9. Support existing local business awards programmes to create new award categories celebrating excellence in sustainable and regenerative business practices. | |||
| 10. Support and recognise certification. | |||
| 11. Collaborate with the Innovation and economic development project team to support a tourism technology cluster and other diversification opportunities that are adjacent to tourism. |
Project 17: Thriving Workforce Programme
Finding and retaining skilled employees is an ongoing challenge for visitor and tourism businesses. Attracting talented people and investing in their capabilities and careers will support a regenerative visitor economy while also creating more opportunities for locals within tourism and hospitality. Affordable housing and living wages will be needed to retain talent.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Support tourism business owners to attract and retain experienced and appropriately skilled staff. | |||
| 2. Work with existing local initiatives and organisations to develop a range of programmes that build the capabilities of the tourism workforce. | |||
| 3. Work with relevant partners to understand how to support improved career opportunities in tourism, and support local initiatives that promote tourism as an attractive career path. | |||
| 4. Establish a mechanism for understanding the cost of living in the district, average wage levels in different segments of the visitor economy, and the implications of establishing a recommended local living wage. | |||
| 5. Support and strengthen local housing initiatives and organisations, advocating for affordable housing and making more of the housing supply available to tourism workers. | |||
| 6. Determine the levers of change to manage the number and distribution of short-term accommodations. These may include advocating for regulation. |
Project 18: Emergency and Climate Adaptation Preparedness
Ensure the tourism system is prepared for potential economic shocks brought on by emergencies and a changing environment.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Develop plans to build local businesses resilience in order to adapt to climate change and more frequent extreme weather events. | |||
| 2. Ensure tourism operators are prepared and understand their responsibilities so that they can keep visitors safe during emergencies. | |||
| 3. Ensure that visitor support is integral to all aspects of the district’s emergency management planning and that businesses understand existing Emergency Management Plans. | |||
| 4. Ensure that a recovery approach is in place that fully understands the needs of the visitor economy after an emergency. |
Project 19: Innovation and Economic Development
Adopting technological innovations will allow the district to diversify the economy while decarbonising tourism. The likelihood of achieving the goals of this plan will be improved by innovation, which in turn presents an opportunity for economic development. Aligning economic development and tourism planning around the regenerative values of the community presents an exciting opportunity for focused place branding.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. To improve business capabilities, support a tourism technology cluster to explore and develop ideas that can leverage technology and celebrate business achievement. | |||
| 2. Collaborate throughout the district to test and encourage adoption of new technologies. | |||
| 3. To support economic diversification (through supporting decarbonisation innovation, technology that can change impacts on environment and visitor behaviour | |||
| 4. Build a reputation as an innovative, early adopter in areas aligned with green tourism innovation, clean transportation, etc. | |||
| 5. Use leadership in the area of regenerative tourism to attract aligned businesses to Queenstown Lakes. | |||
| 6. Collaborate with local research and innovation organisations to explore, develop and promote new, cost-effective solutions that radically improve environmental performance. |
Foundations for Success
Foundational Project 1: Framework for Governance and Review
Ensure there is effective, accountable leadership that can guide stakeholders across sectors and communities to deliver the plan and its various projects.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Develop a formal partnership for the delivery and future development of this plan which includes the RTOs, QLDC, Department of Conservation and Kāi Tahu as the initial core partners. | |||
| 2. Establish an independent governance group to oversee progress at a districtwide level. This will ensure a whole-system approach together with an appropriate balance of independence, accountability and expertise. | |||
| 3. Confirm reporting and review cadence. Regularly assess performance and progress, and identify opportunities for improvement. | |||
| 4. Establish inter-regional and international collaboration structures and ensure strategic alignment between RTOs, QLDC and interregional DMP network to support the plan's objectives and with other region's DMPs. |
Foundational Project 2: Operationalise Projects
Assign ownership of year 1 projects and allocate resources (both financial and taskforce members).
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Develop an implementation plan to guide, in phases, the set of actions ahead for all projects. This needs to make the most of the connections between different areas of work. This will create a programme plan that spans all projects. | |||
| 2. Identify funding for each project. | |||
| 3. Assign a taskforce for projects in phase 1. | |||
| 4. Ensure that communication structure exists: Between the DMG and project leaders and between DMG/project task forces and tourism industry / wider community. | |||
| 5. Identify the capabilities (skills and expertise) and capacity (labour) required to successfully implement the plan. Develop appropriate programmes to address any issues or gaps. | |||
| 6. Build capability and capacity of the regional tourism organisations (RTOs), Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) and other relevant agencies to support implementation. | |||
| 7. Research, identify, and secure appropriate funding from the public and private sectors to support projects that require financial support |
Foundational Project 3: Data and Measurement Framework
Systematise data gathering and measurement and make it publicly accessible so that all can make informed decisions about regenerative tourism.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Initiate an expert-led project to build an optimum data and evidence-based methodology for monitoring and evaluating the transition to regenerative tourism. | |||
| 2. Support the development of a performance measurement and improvement system for tourism businesses, based on proven models from other sectors, that aligns with and accelerates progress towards a regenerative visitor economy (e.g., the New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme Plus (NZFAP Plus). | |||
| 3. Encourage and support visitor economy-related research projects in the district (e.g., PhD studies), including identifying potential research customers. |
Foundational Project 4: Update Queenstown Lakes Brand and Marketing Strategies
Travel to a Thriving Future should cause the regions to adapt and update brand strategy and marketing plans to align with the intention and outcomes of this regenerative tourism strategy and reflect place-based values.
| Actions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| 1. Effective use of data and analytics to improve knowledge about visitor motivators and behaviours. | |||
| 2. An informed understanding of visitor interests, behaviours and values to inform marketing activity. | |||
| 3. Align brand strategy to regenerative tourism and economic diversification. | |||
| 4. Align marketing plans (including business goals, market segments and promotional/experience activities) to regenerative tourism and decarbonisation. | |||
| 5. Align to place-based marketing plans in future. | 3 |
Projects in Progress
Travel to a Thriving Future, the Queenstown Lakes' Destination Management Plan was endorsed by Queenstown Lakes District Council in February 2023. Several projects are now underway. Find out more about these projects progress so far and how you can get involved.
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