Key visitor economy statistics, data and insights for the Wānaka district, year end June 2026.
This resource summarises the Wānaka visitor economy: visitation, visitor spend, accommodation, visitor experience and resident sentiment. Figures are refreshed every six months, for year end June and year end December.
Figures draw on MBIE, Stats NZ, Marketview, AirDNA, Infometrics, Queenstown Lakes District Council and the Queenstown and Wānaka Visitor Experience and Views on Tourism surveys conducted by Angus & Associates. Some figures are provisional and subject to revision.
Wānaka travel insights
Year end June 2026 · Source: MBIE Tourism Volumes and Flows (TVF)
Wānaka recorded 2.4 million domestic visitor days in the year to June 2026, down 1.3% on the prior year. International and total visitor day figures are not available for this period due to a data gap in the underlying source (see note below). Estimated cumulative visitor days measure the daily visitor population in the district, based on cellphone location data. Figures are not a count of unique visitors: a visitor present for multiple days is counted once for each day.
Domestic / international split, year end June 2026
2022 to 2025
2022 to 2025
What does this measure show? Cumulative daily visitor estimates by month, based on cellphone location pings. Figures reflect peak daily visitor volumes for the market or area, not unique visitors, and are not directly comparable to accommodation or arrivals data.
Source: MBIE Tourism Volumes and Flows (TVF), 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
Wānaka travel insights
Year end June 2026 · Source: Marketview Tourism Data Tool
Visitors spent $319.3 million on electronic card transactions in Wānaka in the year to June 2026, up 2.9% on the prior year. Domestic spend was $164.8 million, down 6.0% on the prior year, while international spend rose to $154.4 million, up 14.5% on the prior year, as international visitor numbers continued to recover. Visitor-related electronic card expenditure captures in-person spend by non-resident cardholders and is DQ and LWT's primary measure of visitor spend in the district.
Domestic / international, year end June, 2022 to 2026 ($m)
Domestic / international split, year end June 2026 ($m)
2022 to 2025 ($m)
2022 to 2025 ($m)
Top visitor expenditure markets, year end June 2026
Intra-district travel (Queenstown Lakes residents spending in Wānaka) is excluded so these tables reflect external visitor markets only.
By visitor origin ($m)
By visitor origin ($m)
What does this measure show? Electronic card transaction spend by visitor origin. Intra-district travel is excluded from the market tables so they reflect external visitor markets only.
Source: Marketview Tourism Data Tool, 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
Wānaka travel insights
Year end June 2026 · Sources: MBIE Accommodation Data Programme (ADP), AirDNA
Commercial accommodation providers recorded 925k guest nights in the year to June 2026, up 2.7% on the prior year, made up of 507k domestic guest nights (up 0.7% on the prior year) and 418k international guest nights (up 5.4% on the prior year). Average occupancy across the district's 46 participating properties and 2,840 stay units was 54%, with an average length of stay of 2.0 nights.
Short-term rental (non-commercial) accommodation recorded 247k listing nights, up 13.8% on the prior year, with average occupancy of 60% and an average length of stay of 3.2 nights across 1,068 available listings.
Commercial accommodation
Commercial accommodation guest nights, occupancy and length of stay, covering hotels, motels, backpackers, campgrounds and boutique properties who supply data to the Accommodation Data Programme.
Domestic / international, year end June, 2022 to 2026
Domestic / international split, year end June 2026
2021 to 2025
Last 24 months
Year end June 2026
What do these measures show? Occupancy rate is stay unit nights occupied divided by available monthly stay unit capacity. Length of stay is total guest nights divided by guest arrivals. Both are calculated from the underlying components, not averaged from a stored rate. Figures represent commercial properties who supply data to the Accommodation Data Programme, so are an estimate only.
Source: MBIE Accommodation Data Programme, 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026.
Non-commercial accommodation
Short-term rental listing nights, occupancy and length of stay from platforms including Airbnb and Vrbo. A listing represents a property, not the number of stay units, beds or guest nights.
Year end June, 2021 to 2026
2021 to 2025
Last 24 months
Year end June 2026
What do these measures show? Occupancy rate is booked listing nights divided by available listing nights. Length of stay is a booking-weighted average across the period, not a simple average. Non-commercial accommodation is also known as short-term rental accommodation.
Source: AirDNA, 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026.
Queenstown Lakes travel insights
Year end June 2026 · Queenstown Lakes district total, not split by area · Source: Queenstown Lakes Visitor Experience Survey, Angus & Associates (n=1,055)
Visitors to Queenstown Lakes gave the district a Net Promoter Score of 80 in the year to June 2026, up 10.3 points on the prior year. Domestic NPS rose to 74 (+14.5pts) and international NPS to 85 (+6.8pts), reflecting continued strong advocacy for the region as a destination. Net Promoter Score measures visitors' likelihood to recommend the region, on a rolling 12-month basis.
Rolling 12-month average, Jul-Sep 2023 to Apr-Jun 2026
Note: the vertical axis starts at 50, not 0, so the underlying trend is easier to read.
Average number, per visitor
Average number, per visitor
Within 24 months
Source: Queenstown Lakes Visitor Experience Survey, Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism, conducted by Angus & Associates (n=1,055). This section reports for the Queenstown Lakes district as a whole and is not split by area.
Wānaka travel insights
Wave 25/26 · Source: DQ and LWT Views on Tourism Research, Angus & Associates (n=250)
Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism are committed to supporting a regenerative and resilient tourism industry. This research tracks resident sentiment toward tourism's benefits and impacts each year.
Tourism Approval Rating (TAR)
The TAR score is a composite index of resident perceptions of tourism, shown for domestic and international visitors against the New Zealand benchmark.
Wānaka vs New Zealand, 21/22 to 25/26
Wānaka vs New Zealand, 21/22 to 25/26
Resident perceptions towards tourism
% of residents
% of residents
Areas of focus for tourism
of residents agree the region needs a destination management plan to help guide these priorities.
Source: DQ and LWT Views on Tourism Research, conducted by Angus & Associates, wave 2025/26 (n=250).
Queenstown Lakes travel insights
2025 · Queenstown Lakes district total, not split by area · Source: Queenstown Lakes District Council Quality of Life research
74% of Queenstown Lakes residents rate their overall quality of life in the district as good or extremely good, 20% rate it as average, and 6% rate it as poor or extremely poor. Results have remained relatively stable over time, within 1% of the previous year's results.
About this research: The Quality of Life survey is an annual resident research piece run by QLDC that builds a picture of life in the district, used to support improvements in community wellbeing. Access the Quality of Life Summary 2025.
Share of residents, 2025
Queenstown Lakes travel insights
Year end March 2025 · Queenstown Lakes district total, not split by area · Source: Infometrics Regional Economic Profile
Tourism Gross Domestic Product
$m, 2000 to 2025
The tourism sector contributed $1,508.6m towards GDP in Queenstown-Lakes District in 2025. This amounted to 32.4% of Queenstown-Lakes District's economic output in 2025 as compared to 50.0% in 2000.
Growth in the tourism sector in Queenstown-Lakes District has averaged 5.6% since 2000, compared with an average of 2.6% in New Zealand.
Economic output in Queenstown-Lakes District's tourism sector increased by 0.3% in 2025, compared with a decrease of 0.8% in New Zealand.
Tourism employment
FTEs, 2000 to 2025
The tourism sector employed an average of 12,564 people in Queenstown-Lakes District in 2025. This amounted to 36.3% of Queenstown-Lakes District's total employment in 2025 as compared to 54.4% in 2000.
Employment growth in the tourism sector in Queenstown-Lakes District has averaged 4.0%pa between 2000 and 2025, compared with an average of 1.5%pa in New Zealand.
Employment in the tourism sector increased by 4.7% in 2025 in Queenstown-Lakes District, compared with an increase of 2.7% in New Zealand.
Notes: The tourism sector is not an industry in itself but comprises parts of various industries including accommodation and food services, retail, arts and recreation services, and transport. Figures are for the Queenstown Lakes District as a whole.