DK and Team Queenstown

“It was the Queenstown locals who really supported me,” he recalls. “It’s just that teamwork and community that’s always been the magic here.”

Six years later, when David became chief executive of Destination Queenstown, it was that same spirit ‘Team Queenstown’, that convinced him to stay for the next decade.

“Everyone has always been fully passionate and dedicated to Queenstown - its operators, its marketing and its message. That's part of what makes Queenstown so great. It's fully committed, always has been, and knows what it's doing and knows where it's going.”

David took on the DQ role in 1998, not long after the Asian financial crisis. New hotels like The Heritage and The Millennium had just been built, but visitor numbers were low.

“It was a massive global recession and people were suffering. The members were concerned, and they needed to get the word out there. So I suppose DQ was really in the spotlight, because we were relied upon to coordinate the town’s marketing.”

Just a year into the job, the town faced another challenge – the so-called ‘100-year flood’. And the word was out there for all the wrong reasons.

“That was definitely challenging,” says David. “Because it was Queenstown, the media were here for weeks.”

While the flooding only affected the CBD, the ongoing headlines made it sound as if the entire town was underwater and closed for business. “Some good PR was desperately needed,” he says with a grin.

“I remember going into the gold shop in Arrowtown, and asking how things were going. The owner said, ‘It's the busiest we've ever been! Every time there's massive rainfalls and flooding, new gold gets washed down the river, so all the gold hunters are here. So we immediately put out a media release: ‘Gold lining in Queenstown's cloud’. It made the news, and then a couple of days later, I received a letter from the New Zealand Government reminding me that the country’s minerals were owned by the government, and that no one could just walk around the rivers and pick up gold. So please cease and desist,” David laughs.

Back then, DQ was a team of six – later ten, plus a couple of part-timers - including one person dedicated to media, Sharon Fifield.

“We didn’t have the budget to market to the world so media was a big one,” says David. “Sharon was constantly hosting journalists and travel trade – seven days a week, and I remember thinking she's being overworked. So I rang up Tourism New Zealand to ask why every visiting journalist seemed to turn up in Queenstown on a Saturday and Sunday? They told me, ‘Oh, no, the other RTO’s close on the weekend – DQ’s the only one open to host them.’ So that’s Queenstown for you - always on!”

The hard work was paying off as Queenstown’s profile grew. It was now well established as a winter and adventure destination – famous for skiing, rafting, jet boating and bungy- jumping, but it was beginning to evolve into a four-season resort. Golf courses, wineries and new restaurants were coming on stream – the job was growing along with the town.

“We used to joke about some of the old taglines, which were pretty cool, like, ‘Four seasons more reasons’ and ‘From mild to wild’.

Direct international flights had started up – although only in wintertime.

“I remember a meeting in about 2000 when we put a 10-year plan, to the strategic review board. We talked about daily international flights from Australia, and everybody laughed at me – and now look at us!”

Those improved flight connections helped DQ successfully pitch to host TRENZ for the first time – with a typical Queenstown twist. For the first time, the conference included an afternoon off for famils with tourism operators instead of the usual three days of 15-minute meetings.

“That was a bit of a logistical nightmare - 1000 people going to 50 operators, but it worked well, and it was a huge success.”

By then, Queenstown was seen as the flagship of New Zealand tourism. In the years he was there, David recalls visitor numbers going from around 860,000 to 1.5 million  a year. “I think there was a bit of jealousy,” says David, who remembers other regions were always asking him about the funding model.

 “They could see how tight the DQ team was with the operators. We'd go to TRENZ and parties together - it’s always been Team Queenstown.”

He credits that teamwork, and good advice from a strong board, for keeping DQ focused on what mattered most to members.

“Other tourism operators around the country would often ask, ‘What’s the magic dust?’ And I’d tell them, it’s just passionate people who love tourism, love Queenstown and work really hard. It’s hard to describe what the magic dust is – it just is.”