Queenstown - New Zealand’s Ultimate Holiday Destination

Called the ‘adventure capital of the world’, Queenstown is New Zealand’s top tourist destination thanks to its stunning natural beauty, world class ski resorts and golf courses, innovate adventure sports activities and the local wine industry. Even though it hosts millions of visitors each year, the town itself has only 20,000 year long residents. Thanks to the burgeoning tourist trade Queenstown has seen an impressive rate of economic growth and infrastructure development in recent years.

How to get to Queenstown

Although travelling by bus is always an option, most tourists visit Queenstown by plane. Queenstown airport has gone through major redevelopment in the past couple years to deal with growing regional and international traffic. There are direct flights to Queenstown Airport from Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Sydney. Additional regional flights from Roturua, Brisbane and Melbourne are also available during the busy tourist season. Regardless of your choice of flying or taking the bus to Queenstown, you will be treated to some stunning views of Queenstown surrounding countryside during your arrival.

What to expect in Queenstown

More than a mere tourist trap, Queenstown is steeped in history and culture. Legend is that the town got its name back in the 1800s when a gold digger exclaimed that the area was "fit for Queen Victoria". Although the gold rush is long gone, Queenstown today is one of New Zealand’s most vibrant and fastest growing communities. Once a bucolic paradise of family run farms, Queenstown has since shed its agricultural past and embraced tourism.

Starting at the turn millennium Queenstown has witnessed explosive growth in both the number of visitors as well as its local population. Extremely popular with regional holiday makers and international tourists, Queenstown’s hospitality industry shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. Large scale property development and ambitious local infrastructure projects are underway to maintain the town’s impressive growth rate. Along with tourism, local wine making is also thriving.

What to do in Queenstown

Queenstown is perhaps best known for adventure tourism. Mecca for adrenalin junkies from around the world, Queenstown is where you come to indulge in the wildest cutting-edge adventure sports activities known to man. Here are a few popular things to do:

Bungy jumping - Developed and commercialised by New Zealand’s own A.J. Hackett in the 1980s, bungy jumping remains Queenstown’s top draw when it comes to adventure sports. The town is currently home to several heart stopping, gut wrenching jumps at a variety of picturesque settings

Jetboating - Another home-grown invention, jetboating was developed and popularised in New Zealand as a means of traversing the shallow rocky rivers at break neck speeds in a speedboat. Current jetboating options in Queenstown include Kawarau Jet, Shotover Jet and a new addition, the Dart River Jet. Jetboating is the best way to experience Queenstown’s amazing vistas while cutting through winding rivers and looming rock faces at great speed on a speedboat.

Apart from bungy jumping and jetboating other attractions in Queenstown include snowboarding, treks through the countryside in four-wheel-drives, mountain biking, canyon skiing, heli-skiing. Those looking for more sedate pleasures can go camping, hiking or on walking tours of the local wineries. Queenstown is also home to some of the Southern Hemisphere’s best skiing and snowboarding resorts which operate in the winter months. Whatever the time of year, there’s always something going on in Queenstown - be sure to book your flight early to avoid disappointment.