The quiet season in Queenstown is continuing along as per usual as we head into the winter months. But not uneventfully, as something always seems to be happening in this town of ours. Destination Queenstown has come out with warnings of a softening tourism market and a request for an additional $1 million in funding, while the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce call for some form of relief in what they've termed as 'the perfect storm'. Despite the gloomy economic forecasts, approval has been granted for the first gondola to access a New Zealand skifield, which came accompanied with the announcement of a new ski resort for the region.

At the Destination Queenstown (DQ) Quarterly Members Update, Chief Executive Officer David Kennedy issued a bleak outlook for the Queenstown tourism climate. This was followed by a request of an additional $1 million worth of funding to support their own drive to boost the numbers of Australians and Chinese to Queenstown, as well as adding to the company's seven strategic directions, effectively encouraging and promoting environmental sustainability. Mr Kennedy said that DQ, as the 'Public Relations' officers of Queenstown, had a responsibility to tell the truth regarding what they view as the challenges facing Queenstown. They include the global credit crunch, the US elections and the sub prime mortgage crisis, oil and food prices, an excess of Queenstown accommodation, and the fears of a recession.

Taking place not long after that was QLDC's draft annual plan hearing, in which the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce also expressed their concerns. That meeting heralded the following quote, which claimed that Queenstown retailers were operating amidst "the throes of a perfect storm ... of adverse trading conditions". Deputy chamber chairman Miles Wilson requested a cut in the projected rates increase as the chambers 200 members were already facing tough times. The international tourism market had appeared to grow stagnant, and severe pressures had been reported by those members surveyed.

So on one hand, we have DQ warning of economic worries ahead, and on the other, we have Queenstown retailers saying that they are already feeling the pinch. Could that mean that there is scale for it to get a lot worse than it is now? The potential challenges that have been pointed out by DQ, all sound rather ominous, and should this turn out to be the reality that Queenstown is forced to face, then what hope is there when both these bodies unanimously agree to only request one million dollars? Shouldn't they be asking for a lot more than that to guarantee the economic security that tourism has brought to the region?

Last week saw the approval of the first ever gondola to access a skifield in New Zealand, that being both the Snow Park NZ, the Waiorau Snow Farm, and a third planned ski area, the $10 million Roaring Meg Resort. There is potential not only for the creation of 300 more winter jobs when both projects are completed, but it would certainly open up the area to a new market of overseas visitors. At a combined price tag of roughly $26 million, it serves an as indication of how much some see as necessary to invest into the future of the area, and it makes a $1 million promotion campaign feel all that more hollow.

If the challenges that face the region ever manifest into reality, one can only wonder if this is all money well spent in either case. And just why has it taken an uncertain economic outlook, for the public relations officers of Queenstown to promote business principles that should have already have fallen inline far earlier with New Zealand's 'clean green' image. Despite this, can Queenstown's tourism industry ever be truly sustainable, both on an economical and environmental level?

Nathan - Queenstown.com Editor.