Queenstown-Lakes, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand

🇳🇿 Queenstown-Lakes District, a local government district, is in the Otago Region of New Zealand that was formed in 1986. It is surrounded by the districts of Central Otago, Southland, Westland and Waitaki. Much of the area is often referred to as Queenstown because of the popularity of the resort town, but the district covers a much wider area, including the towns of Wānaka to the north-east, Glenorchy to the north-west and Kingston to the south. The district is sometimes called the Southern Lakes, as it contains Lake Wakatipu, Lake Wānaka and Lake Hāwea.

Economy In the year to 31 March 2023, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Queenstown Lakes District was $3,960m, representing 1% of New Zealand's total GDP. Based on ANZSIC categories, the industry sector with the largest contribution to the Queenstown Lakes District GDP was accommodation and food services, at 14.1%. This is markedly greater than the 2.1% contribution that accommodation and food services make to the national economy. The next highest contribution to the district GDP was from construction, representing 10.6% in the district GDP, versus 6.3% in the national economy. Rental, hiring and real estate services contributed 10.5%, compared with 6.2% in the national economy.

As a major visitor destination, Queenstown Lakes District has a much higher proportion of people in employed in accommodation (8.7%) than the national average (1.1%). The four largest industries in the district based on employment were accommodation, cafes and restaurants, house construction, and the operation of sports and physical recreation venues. Tourism as a whole contributed $889 million (24.2%) to the district GDP, compared with 2.7% nationally.