13 Dec - 19 Dec
LOCALLY OWNED SINCE FOREVER
No 881
LAKES WEEKLY BULLETIN
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18 IN 9 SI
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Queenstown’s biggest new year’s resolution ever
As it draws to a close, 2022 is a year I will never forget - the year the Queenstown Lakes community embraced the vision for the visitor economy to be carbon zero by 2030 (part of the regenerative tourism strategy created by Destination Queenstown, Lake Wānaka Tourism, and the Queenstown Lakes District Council, supported by Kāi Tahu and the Department of Conservation). We have not only had overwhelming support from our community and operators, but in the many discussions that followed the socialisation of our goal – we discovered that many of our operators are already quietly well on the journey. Some of our oldest and most established tourism attractions have already spent more than the last couple of years working out ways to ditch fossil fuel.
I probably shouldn’t be surprised. This is the place where tourism entrepreneurs turn passion into enterprise; where jet boats became synonymous with tourism; where we became pioneers of throwing people off bridges. We are not a culture that sits around and waits for instructions – we’re early adopters and innovators. We are in a stronger position than probably anywhere else in New Zealand, maybe the world, to implement a goal like this. This is a place like no other and our visitors know this. Demand is back and people are staying longer and spending more.
Future Hospitality Group launches its latest new venue this week. Odd Saint is next to St Peters Church, where Halo was previously located and will be a welcome addition to the brunch scene. (L to R) Sara Maurer, Anton Waldon and co-owners Jamie Orr-Tobin, Bert Haines, Matt Tobin and James Ace
We did consider that including the transport emissions of our visitors in our plan would be too big an ask. It is phenomenal that the fourth largest airport in the country, Queenstown Airport, is also supporting our carbon zero goal. Of course, many of you are asking – how on earth are you going to do this? We have a three-step approach. Step one was determining if we had enough community support for this big ambitious goal. We have been amazed at the collective will to make change. Now we move to step two where we scope the goal. Step three will be the delivery. We have nothing to lose, the world knows it needs to decarbonise and our location, a long way from anywhere, means this will affect us. By acting now, I’m confident our international reputation will attract the investment we need to be a world leader. There is no time to waste and we are moving swiftly to get our governance group in place so we can share our detailed action plan by the end of the first quarter of next year. I know the clock is ticking. My 2030 countdown app tells me how many days we have left (that’s how my brain works these days) - it’s 2940 days. Enjoy your new year and know that change is coming – in a good way. Destination Queenstown Chief Executive Mat Woods
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