Queenstown Lakes regenerative tourism strategey (including carbon zero visitor economy by 2030) fully endorsed
Thursday 9 February 2023 (Queenstown Lakes, NZ) Joint media release from Destination Queenstown, Lake Wānaka Tourism and Queenstown Lakes District Council.
The Queenstown Lakes regenerative tourism strategy is officially under way following the unanimous endorsement of the Queenstown Lakes District Councillors at a full council meeting today.
This was the final formal step to adopting the region’s destination management plan ‘Travel to a thriving future’, a partnership between Destination Queenstown (DQ), Lake Wānaka Tourism (LWT), and the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC), with input from Kāi Tahu and the Department of Conservation.
Two members of the public spoke in favour of the plan; no one spoke against it. Destination Queenstown Chief Executive Mat Woods, Lake Wānaka Tourism Chief Executive Tim Barke, and QLDC General Manager, Strategy and Policy Michelle Morss answered questions from the Council.
Mayor Glyn Lewers told Councillors that the most important thing now was for all of them to individually help drive the district’s plan. “It’s a visceral drive for me personally and as the leaders of this district we have to drive it.”
“The Queenstown Lakes District Mayor has supported our ambitious goal for the visitor economy to be carbon zero by 2030 from the outset, and our goal and the regenerative strategy’s been public since late last year. It’s good to have the official endorsement from our councillors who represent our community. Now it really is time to get on with the 23 projects on the list. I’m looking forward to having the governance in place and setting up our project teams,” says DQ CE Mat Woods.
“The destination planning process was designed to be community-driven from the start,” says LWT CE Tim Barke. “Created with and for the local communities, the people of Queenstown Lakes have expressed their aspirations for what tourism can become. This collective vision provides opportunities for everyone in the region, as well as greater wellbeing for people and the planet.”
As a matter of priority, a dedicated team is already scoping the keystone project of the tourism strategy – carbon zero by 2030. The team consists of QLDC Climate Action Programme Manager Katherine Durman, local energy expert Dr Stephen Batstone, and Tyler Robinson, David Archer, Lindsay and Rodney Payne from Destination Think. The QLDC Climate Reference Group will be asked to offer advice and guidance. Experts from around the world have offered their support in an advisory role, including; Paul Cubbon (Assistant Dean of Innovation, University of British Columbia), Dr Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (Adjunct Snr Lecturer, UniSA Business, University of South Australia), Tito Jankowski (Chief Executive Officer, AirMiners), and Graeme Millen (Managing Director - Climate Tech & Sustainability, Silicon Valley Bank). Dr. Susanne Becken will offer scientific advice (Professor of Sustainable Tourism at Griffith University, Principal Science Investment Advisor with the Department of Conservation, New Zealand). The scoping report is due by the end of March.
Preparations for the first initiative to come out of the ‘Travel to a Thriving Future’ are also well underway. Launching in early April, a funding platform will provide the opportunity for visitors and industry to support localised climate, conservation and biodiversity action.
The Queenstown Lakes regenerative tourism strategy set out to ensure that tourism supports a thriving community – environmentally, socially, culturally and economically. The strategy is an output of the Grow Well | Whaiora Spatial Plan, a formal partnership between QLDC, Kāi Tahu and the Crown and an action in the QLDC Climate and Biodiversity Plan.
The full endorsement of the plan follows two-years’ development with wide-ranging feedback from the community.
“The plan will continue to evolve and the partnership welcomes feedback from the community at any time for consideration at the next periodic review point. So we urge everyone who lives here or has an interest in our region to stay informed and sign up to our newsletter,” says Mayor Glyn Lewers.
Ends
Please find a high-resolution image here of Michelle Morss (QLDC Strategy and Development Manager), Mat Woods (CE Destination Queenstown) and Tim Barke (CE Lake Wānaka Tourism) leaving Council just after the unanimous vote. There is also an aerial view of Queenstown.
Sign up for more information and find out how you can be involved here.
Read the Queenstown Lakes regenerative tourism strategy ‘Travel to a Thriving Future’ here or brief summary below.
Travel to a thriving future – a summary
Travel to a thriving future is the Queenstown Lakes destination management strategy, and its vision. Developed from the combined feedback of local communities, it is the region’s roadmap to becoming a regenerative tourism destination by 2030. The strategy is an output and priority initiative of the Queenstown Lakes Grow Well | Whaiora Spatial Plan
The 61-page strategy outlines the current state of tourism, defines regenerative tourism and outlines 23 key projects to be delivered. It recognises that the visitor economy has an important role in achieving value, socially, culturally, environmentally and economically.
The plan draws on Kāi Tahu (the region’s iwi) values to inform decision-making including whanaukataka (family and community focused), manaakitaka (hospitality) and kaitiakitaka (guardianship).
The keystone project of the strategy, is to rapidly cut emissions and make the visitor economy carbon zero by 2030. The commitment includes Scope 3 emissions – all emissions from air travel and ground transportation.
Scoping work has already begun on how the region will decarbonise the visitor economy, with four strategies outlined:
• Mitigate emissions by deploying existing clean-energy solutions, fostering more rapid innovation, accelerating the adoption of existing technology, and making significant conservation efforts
• Understand optimal visitation levels and focus on value by increasing length of stay and/or yield per visitor and total revenue
• Evolve marketing plans and influence partner organisations to change the business mix, attracting market segments with a lower carbon-intensity and higher value
• Invest in carbon removal solutions on the path towards decarbonisation for difficult to abate emissions, in line with Oxford Principles.
Completing this keystone project is considered a prerequisite to creating a regenerative economy, and is a key enabler of other projects.
There are a total of 23 key projects, which will all have dedicated project teams with community and organisational oversight. These range from developing arts, culture and heritage; to zero waste and pollution; to emergency and climate adaptation preparedness (see ‘Plan on a page’ below or Travel to a thriving future page 21).
The projects fall under four strategic priorities called pillars:
• Enrich communities and enhance the visitor experience
• Restore the environment and decarbonise the visitor economy
• Build economic resilience, capability and productivity
• Foundations for success
Work is well under way on most of the ‘Foundations for success’ (4th pillar) including establishing a framework for governance and review. The next step will be to operationalise the projects with dedicated project teams.
For more information please contact any of the below:
Tsehai Tiffin - Destination Queenstown
Gizelle Regan -Lake Wānaka Tourism
Communications team - QLDC
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