Beyond the postcard
How Queenstown’s Tourism Chief is using innovation to
future-proof the region
Mat Woods blends sustainability, smart policy and a regenerative mindset to ensure Queenstown’s visitor economy becomes a platform for innovation.
Mat Woods lives in Wanaka, but for all practical purposes, Queenstown is home. As CEO of both Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism, Woods oversees the region’s tourism strategy with a focus that’s as much about what’s next as it is about who’s coming now.
He makes the daily commute over the Crown Range, and he doesn’t mind it. “It’s like driving through a painting that changes every day,” he says. “Never boring, never the same.”
Woods has been in the region for nearly two decades. With a background in national retail and outdoor sports, he brings a broad commercial perspective to his role. But his work now is deeply local, focused on how a destination as iconic as Queenstown can evolve. Technologically, environmentally and culturally, the goal is to remain world-class while staying true to its alpine identity and leaving the region better than it was found.
A shopfront for innovation
“Tourism gives us visibility,” Woods explains. “It’s a shopfront to attract talent and test ideas.” That philosophy underpins initiatives like Electrify Queenstown, an event designed to showcase the commercial upside of electrification in a visitor economy. The programme includes product demos, policy forums and test rides on emerging electric tech, including e-bikes, boats and other transport, such as gondolas.
Woods believes Queenstown’s scale, access and natural draw make it ideal for piloting future-facing initiatives. “When people travel, they’re open to new ideas. Sometimes those ideas have been in front of them all along, but it takes being here, in this place, to really see them.”
Infrastructure meets lifestyle
While Woods’ role is deeply strategic, he’s also immersed in the rhythm of everyday life in the region. His daughter, a competitive snow sports athlete, is homeschooled to accommodate her training. His family skis, rides bikes and waterskis in the lake. Sometimes all in one day.
“When people visit, they’re amazed at what you can fit into 24 hours,” he says. “Run, work, bike, dinner, out on the lake, and still home by 10. It’s normal here.”
Woods believes Queenstown’s lifestyle is a key drawcard for conferences, start-ups and high-value tourism alike. “It’s got 150 cafes in the CBD, but you can still run your business from a ski lodge. You can have a meeting on a chairlift. That’s real.”
Connected, creative and future-focused
Woods points to the Queenstown Airport and strong internet connectivity as enablers for running national and even global businesses from the region. “We go to Sydney for the weekend. It’s a direct flight. And the contrast, from mountain to ocean is incredible.”
He also highlights Queenstown’s community of cross-functional people. Tech founders who also ski, creatives who sit on boards, entrepreneurs who host events in geo-domes in remote, inspirational settings. “You end up with this incredible overlap of skills and ideas.”
Advice for those considering the move
Woods encourages newcomers, whether remote tech workers or founders, to integrate early and fully. “Be present. Join a co-working space. Say yes to the bike ride or the ski day. That’s where conversations happen here.” From community solar projects and electric ferries to mountain bike meetings and locally grown food, Queenstown’s next chapter may look even more ambitious than its last. And for Woods, that’s exactly the point.