Queenstown's big weekend party to celebrate winter, snow and visitors
The people of Queenstown will celebrate the winter they hope will turn the tourist destination’s fortunes around after a lamentable two years of Covid-19.
The Welcome to Winter 2022 celebration will take place over four days starting on Thursday and include fireworks, live music, night skiing and swimming in Lake Wakatipu for the enthusiastic.
Headline act Mitch James would play on the central Queenstown outdoor stage on Friday, followed by Stellar on Saturday.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Mat Woods said the celebration would be happening on one of the busiest weekends of winter when the Australian and New Zealand school holidays overlap.
Kiwi musician Mitch James will be performing in central Queenstown on Friday night.
Kiwi musician Mitch James will be performing in central Queenstown on Friday night.
While everyone would benefit, the celebrations would be focused on the local community, he said.
Since Covid-19 arrived in New Zealand in 2020 and borders closed, Queenstown’s tourism and hospitality businesses have been hit by a massive drop in customers.
Just in the year to January 2021 there was a 33% drop in visitor spending in the town, down to $610 million.
Even with borders open now, many businesses were running at less capacity due to critical staff shortages and staff being hit by winter illnesses and absences due to Covid-19.
However, the winter season had started with incredible snow, which attracted strong numbers of Australian visitors, Woods said.
Many direct trans-Tasman flights have been booked out and hotels were booked about 80%, the highest levels since 2019, Woods said.
“This is the boost we need. It’s great, but it’s going to be a long recovery.”
Future Hospitality Group co-owner Bert Haines said there were ten-fold more visitors in Queenstown in recent weeks compared to the last two years.
“We’re busy... we’re actually overwhelmed by the amount of people here combined with the lack of staff available to work.”
Like other businesses he was battling staff shortages and sickness across the company’s five central-Queenstown restaurants and bars.
Queenstown's latest boutique hotel is facing an unusual quandary as it prepares to welcome Australian tourists - it can't find any trained butlers.
“It’s been a very delicate line to navigate, trying to look after our team and look after our guests,” he said.
The company would not be able to continue operating all of its venues seven days a week, he said.
Woods said it would take some more time for the number of visitors to Queenstown to build up to 2019 levels and many hotels were restricting bookings due to the staff shortages.
Also, there were more beds in town than pre-Covid, including the 227-room Holiday Inn Express and Suites in central Queenstown and three new hotels with a total of about 340 rooms in the suburb of Frankton.
The Welcome to Winter celebration would also mark the return of large events to the district.
Paid for from the government’s $50 million Regional Events Fund, it marked the end of a horror run with events expected to generate $100 million cancelled in the first four months of the year.
“I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait,” Woods said.
Secure your homes over summer
Police are reminding people to keep their homes secure during the summer months.
Inspector Glenda Barnaby, Christchurch Area Prevention manager, says daytime burglaries are just as common as nightime burglaries.
“Burglaries can be committed at any time of the day, and coming into warmer months there is more opportunity for thieves."
"Although a majority of burglaries involve forced entry through windows and doors, we are starting to see more incidents at insecure premises. Police deal with cases where burglaries are committed in broad daylight, sometimes even while the victim is at home. Good weather means open doors and windows, which makes homes more vulnerable to burglars.”
Inspector Barnaby says there’s a few things people can do to reduce their changes of a burglary being committed.
⚠️ If you’re going outside for gardening, relaxing in the sun, or working in the garage, take a moment to lock your doors and secure your windows first.
⚠️ Do the same at night when you go to bed - keep your doors and windows secure and close your curtains. Fitting window stays means you can get a breeze coming through, while keeping your windows secure.
⚠️ Get to know your neighbours - let them know if you’re going away and look out for one another.”
If you see any suspicious activity, people or vehicles in your neighbourhood, don't hesitate to contact Police.
If you witness or suspect any illegal activity, please call 111 if it is happening now, or make a report through 105 either online or over the phone, if it is after the fact.
Poll: Are our Kiwi summer holidays helping us recharge, or holding the economy back? ☀️🥝
There’s growing debate about whether New Zealand’s extended Christmas break (and the slowdown that comes with it) affects productivity.
Tracy Watkins has weighed in ... now it’s your turn. What’s your take? 🤔
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72.7% We work hard, we deserve a break!
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16.3% Hmm, maybe?
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11% Yes!
Brain Teaser of the Day 🧠✨ Can You Solve It? 🤔💬
How many balls of string does it take to reach the moon?
(Peter from Carterton kindly provided this head-scratcher ... thanks, Peter!)
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm on the day!
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