The 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 B2B site (login reqiuired). The dashboard provides members with one convenient location for publicly available tourism data, purchased data and RTO-led research.

In September 2025, the Wānaka region recorded approximately 262,000 visitor days, with domestic visitors accounting for 64% and international visitors 36% of visitor days. Total visitor credit card expenditure* reached $25.4 million, a modest 1% decline compared with September 2024. Domestic visitors contributed $15 million, while international spending totalled $10.4 million. Commercial accommodation providers recorded over 58,600 guest nights, and non-commercial accommodation listings accounted for 18,340 nights.

Visitor Experience Survey results show visitors continue to enjoy their time in the region, with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 71 for the 12 months to September 2025. Australian visitors reported the highest satisfaction, with an NPS of 89, above domestic (65) and other international (78) visitors.

* The expenditure data source is based on electronic card transactions processed through Queenstown terminals only and is increasingly under-representative as booking and payment channels shift. DQ and LWT continue to advocate for the reinstatement of a dataset that more accurately captures total visitor expenditure.

The Visitor Experience Survey is a survey of visitors to the Queenstown Lakes region. The results are shared quarterly and outline a variety of experience aspects including; visitor motivations, connection with people and place, activities/attractions, net promoter score and overall visitor experience satisfaction. The Visitor Experience Survey is Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism's collaborative research initiative facilitated by tourism research experts Angus & Associates.

ROLLING 12 MONTH AVERAGE

ROLLING 12 MONTH AVERAGE

Source: Wānaka Visitor Experience Survey, Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism facilitated by Angus & Associates. Last 12 months refers to 1 October 2024 - 30 September 2025, DQ LWT's FY starts 1 July (Q1 is July - September, Q2 is October - December, Q3 is January to March, Q4 is April to June)
Sample size last 12 months 289. Total sample size since July 2023 899. Note that the Visitor Experience Survey began in Wānaka in July 2023, so the FY23–24 NPS results are based on a growing sample size and should be considered indicative and not a full 12-month rolling average.

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 have resulted in an overstatement of international visitor counts in recent data (October 2024 onwards). The absolute international visitor counts and vs prior year metrics should be interpreted with caution. 

Source: Vistr Visitor Volume Estimates. 1- 30 September 2025. vs prior year - percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: Vistr Visitor Volume Estimates. 1 January 2022 - 30 September 2025.

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, therefore is not fully representitive of total visitor expenditure. Note: this source is not adjusted to account for inflation, this source is based on electronic card transactions processed through Queenstown terminals only and is increasingly under-representative as booking and payment channels shift. DQ and LWT continue to advocate for the reinstatement of a dataset that more accurately captures total visitor expenditure.

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 - 30 September 2025. vs prior year - percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 January 2019 - 1 - 30 September 2025. 

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 - 30 September 2025. 

Source: Worldline/Marketview Tourism Data. 1 - 30 September 2025. 

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

Source: Accommodation Data Programme. 1 - 30 September 2025. vs prior year: percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: CAM (Jan - Sept 2019), Accommodation Data Programme (June 2020 onwards). 1 January 2019 - 30 September 2025.

OCTOBER 2023 - SEPTEMBER 2025 (LAST 24 MONTHS)

Source: Accommodation Data Programme. 1 October 2023 - 30 September 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 - 30 September 2025. vs prior year: percentage change vs same month 2024.

Source: AirDNA. 1 May 2022 - 30 September 2025.