Queenstown going up-market in tourism

As written about before New Zealand experienced a property bust recently. The bubble before was mostly fueled by overseas buyers, for example from Hong Kong, investing into the local market while receiving cheap financing from Australian-owned banks. With the global financial crisis the bubble burst and at the same time the property market tanked, tourism took a beating. Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand and located at the shore of a beautiful lake and surrounded by breath-taking mountains, is trying to get out of the funk in targeting more up-market clients. After years of backpacker-tourism Queenstown is eyeing tourists from India and China. Tourists from Asian countries have grown up to 40 percent in recent years. However, what Queenstown lacks are international hotels, world-class shopping and spas. The government is currently developing a new neighborhood in Frankton, targeting more up-market developers. At the same time the city is trying to attract international hotel chains like Hilton, who will open a hotel in 2011. What will be an additional boost to tourism is the AirAsia budget airline connection to Kuala Lumpur and onwards to France. Even today walking the streets of Queenstown makes it clear where the future growth will come from: India and China.