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.

May 2025 reflected Queenstown’s typical off-season pattern, with expected seasonal softening in visitation but a solid year-on-year performance. Total visitor expenditure rose 2% compared to May 2024 to nearly $50 million, driven by a 7% increase in international spend offsetting a mild 3% decline in domestic spend. While cumulative visitor days were down 3% to 444,760, accommodation nights showed growth: commercial accommodation guest nights rose 3% to 210,200, and non-commercial property listing nights increased 10% to 34,720. Passenger arrivals at Queenstown Airport also lifted 2% compared to the same period last 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 app based payments, there for is not fully representitive of total visitor expenditure. Note: this source is not adjusted to account for inflation.

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 - 31 May 2025. vs prior year - percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 January 2019 - 31 May  2025. 

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 - 31 May 2025. 

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 - 31 May 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- 31 May 2025. vs prior year - percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: Vistr Visitor Volume Estimates. 1 January 2022 -  31 May 2025.

The number of passengers that arrived through Queenstown Airport

Source: Queenstown Airport Passenger History. 1 - 31 May 2025. vs prior year: percentage change vs same month 2025.

Source: Queenstown Airport Passenger History. 1 January 2019 - 31 May 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 - 31 May 2025. vs prior year: percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: CAM (Jan - Sept 2019), Accommodation Data Programme (June 2020 onwards). 1 January 2019 - 31 May 2025.

Source: Accommodation Data Programme. 1 April 2023 - 31 May 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 - 31 May 2025. vs prior year: percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: AirDNA. 1 May 2022 - 31 May 2025.