Destination Queenstown's Monthly Data Snapshot is available at the end of each month. It provides members with access to topline information regarding the prior month's performance, based on the datasets available. Insights have been gathered from the Visitor Insights Dashboard on the Member Hub. The Data and Insights section of the hub provides members with one convenient location for publicly available tourism data, purchased data, DQ-commissioned research, and the Forward Outlook.

In February 2025, commercial guest nights totaled 329,600, a mild 5% decline from the same month last year. Overall occupancy remained very strong at 89%. Visitor expenditure reached $80 million, reflecting a 3% decline from the previous year. However, total visitor days for the month exceeded 1.1 million, showing an increase compared to February last year. The slight downturns experienced in February 2025 are likely largely due to key events shifting from February to January in 2025, including Chinese Lunar New Year and the Gibbston Valley Concert, as well as the impact of one less day in February 2025 following last year's leap year. 

Visitor expenditure refers to money spent on tourism-related activities while in Queenstown. DQ uses Marketview visitor spend figures as our expenditure measure. Marketview visitor expenditure is based on visitor in-person card transactions and does not include estimates for cash, online transactions and pre-bookings. Note: this source is not adjusted to account for inflation.

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 - 28 February 2025. vs prior year - percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 January 2019 -  28 February 2025. 

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 - 28 February 2025. 

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 - 28 February 2025.

The monthly cumulative visitor estimates represent the total number of daily visitors counted over a month, regardless of whether visitors stay for multiple days. For example, if someone visits for three days, they are counted three times in the cumulative estimate. Note: Vistr are currently investigating issues that may be leading to an understatement of international visitor counts in recent data (July - November 2024) which could be leading to an exaggerated vs prior year declines. The absolute international visitor counts and vs prior year metrics should be interpreted with caution. 

Source: Vistr Visitor Volume Estimates. 1- 28 February 2025. vs prior year - percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: Vistr Visitor Volume Estimates. 1 January 2022 -  28 February 2025.

The number of passengers that arrived through Queenstown Airport

Source: Queenstown Airport Passenger History. 1 - 28 February 2025. vs prior year: percentage change vs same month 2025.

Source: Queenstown Airport Passenger History. 1 January 2019 -  28 February 2025.

The total guest nights and occupancy rates for commercial accommodation in the Queenstown region gathered from properties participating in the Accommodation Data Programme.

Source: Accommodation Data Programme. 1 - 28 February 2025. vs prior year: percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: CAM (Jan - Sept 2019), Accommodation Data Programme (June 2020 onwards). 1 January 2019 - 28 February 2025.

Source: Accommodation Data Programme. 1 January 2023 -  28 February 2025.

Non commercial accommodation data is drawn from AirDNA. It provides insights into the total number of property nights in non-commercial/ short term rental accommodation providers. Note: property listing nights represent the number of properties/ listings booked, not the number of beds or guest nights.

Source: AirDNA. 1 -  28 February 2025. vs prior year: percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: AirDNA. 1 January 2022 - 28 February 2025.