SUBMISSION FOR FUNDING FOR A QUEENSTOWN LAKES
DISTRICT SPECIFIC EVENTS ORGANISATION
TO:
Queenstown Lakes District Council
Private Bag 50072
QUEENSTOWN 9348
Name of submitters:
Destination Queenstown
Lakes Leisure Ltd
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce
Attention:
Tony Everitt/ Russell Grey
Fiona McKissock/Mike Saunders
Ann Lockhart/Alastair Porter
1. Background:
Chamber members, suppliers to and other organisations involved with events,
have lobbied the Chamber of Commerce over a long period of time to assist with
the setting up of a stand-alone specific events organisation.
A meeting of the principal local organisations who have an interest and
involvement in events was held in April 2010. Representatives attending the
meeting included QLDC, Queenstown Chamber of Commerce, Destination
Queenstown, Lakes Leisure and Winter Games NZ. It was acknowledged at the
time of the meeting that a number of parties, including DQ, Lakes Leisure and
Council run some very good events and facilitate others including Winter
Festival.
However, it was also agreed that there is opportunity for the district to adopt a far
more proactive approach to events; in particular in the areas of promoting the
Queenstown Lakes as a world class events destination and attracting new
events on an ongoing basis. Concern was also expressed over the lack of events
and surrounding activities during the shoulder seasons as well as opportunities
to bid for new events which are lost due to no one organisation in the district
having the overall responsibility for securing and supporting new events.
At the time of the inaugural meeting it was decided to set up a working party of
the principal organisations involved with events, including QLDC, RTO’s,
Chambers of Commerce and Lakes Leisure.
2.
Recommendations:
Destination Queenstown, Lakes Leisure and thee Chamber of Commerce, (the
submitters) have investigated suitable structures for Queenstown Lakes Events
(QLE) and recommend the following:
1

That a Queenstown Lakes Events Specific Organisation (QLE) be
established to operate in conjunction with other key stakeholders.

It is anticipated that this organisation would take a co-ordinated approach
amongst the key stakeholders including local authorities and commercial
business partners.

The new events entity will focus on setting up a district wide events
strategy in the first instance.
3. Strategies for the Events organisation include:
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Retaining and supporting existing events
Co-branding with existing events in the Queenstown Lakes District and New
Zealand
Promoting Queenstown Lakes District brand extension
Building Queenstown Lakes event brands in target markets
Identifying events to attract new markets
Promoting event economic impact studies
4. Advantages of an Events Specific Organisation includes:

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5.
Undertaking actions to benefit all Lakes District events which currently could
not be undertaken or afforded by any one individual event or entity.
Establishing an ‘events first’ priority entity
Creating an ‘arms length’ entity
Improving leverage for Central Government support
Improving leverage for Corporate Sponsorships
Enabling more efficient Council involvement
Reinforcing Queenstown Lakes Brand
Events Organisation Structure
The working party suggests that a 2 tier organisation be set up as follows - the
advantage of this structure is that the Not- for- Profit Trust will allow the Limited
Liability company to endure some risks associated with certain events.
2
“Events Queenstown”
Not-for-Profit Trust
“Events Queenstown”
Limited Liability Company
For Profit – Risk Vehicle
Financial
Support
Marketing
Support
Co-ordinate/Assist/Liaise
• The Process
Material
Support
Moral
Support
Advice
6. First Tier: “Not for Profit” Trust
Potential Trustees: QLDC
Chamber of Commerce
Lakes Leisure
DQ
Economic Agency
Assets:
Equipment, Intellectual property, etc.
Non taxable entity
b) Second Tier: Risk taking “For Profit” subsidiary
Limited Liability Company - A commercial board which pays the trust for:
Equipment
Intellectual property
Administration, etc
Manages Event risks and liabilities
3
7.
Significant outcomes of the Events entity:
a) Growing the entire events market
b) Supporting growth of current events
c) Applying for central government funding; private and corporate
sponsorship
d) Mitigating the risk of individual events on any one organisation e.g. DQ
and Winter Festival.
8. Funding Sought:
The submitters are agreed that funding from other stakeholders including
government agencies and corporate sponsorships will be sought. In the
meantime, the submitters request funds of $40,000 from the Annual 2010 -2011
budget in order to set-up the Queenstown Lakes Events legal entity as outlined
above.
It is anticipated that after the seed funding has been allocated and the events
entity is set up that ongoing funding would be sought from both the private and
public sectors.
The submitters wish to speak in support of this submission.
______________________________
Destination Queenstown
_______________________________
Lakes Leisure Ltd
______________________________
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce
Date: 16 May 2010
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