That is a question being asked in tourism circles after a pretty decent year of tourism growth capped off with a golden summer.
Explaining the likely impact of a strong upward trend in tourist numbers this week, Lake Wanaka Tourism general manager James Helmore told the Otago Daily Times there was evidence the town needed a big, five-star hotel-apartment complex.
''We've got good four and four and a-half star hotels.
''But for us to attract high-spending visitors, which is ultimately who we want ... we need something more in the five-star space with decent capacity.
''I know that apartment complexes around Wanaka at that level are doing very well.''
He was aware of ''a couple of projects'' being worked on but declined to provide further details.
Figures compiled by Lake Wanaka Tourism showed February was a record month, with tourist numbers up 25% and bed nights up 19% on last February.
''All the figures we have for February are hitting records well and truly. It's actually the first year ever where February has been bigger than January.''
''It's like an aberration, because it stands out from previous trends,'' Mr Helmore said.
The February increase was partly due to Challenge Wanaka shifting from January to February, and the Chinese New Year falling in February this year.
Aside from February, strong growth had been seen in Wanaka over the past 12 months, with an overall increase of 7.2%.
Mr Helmore described the year as the start of an ''upcycle'' following the global financial crisis, with a strong autumn last year, a ''middling'' winter, a ''very strong'' spring and a ''record'' summer.
''Queenstown has been growing for the last 12 to 18 months, whereas our cycle is only just beginning.''
The key thing was that Wanaka tourism was growing at a much faster rate than the national trend, so it was gaining market share, Mr Helmore said.
Wanaka had the country's biggest percentage increases in international guest nights and total guest nights, and had the fifth-biggest increase in tourist volume.
He put some of this down to the strength of the message Wanaka had taken to the annual Trenz conference, and was about to do again.
That was leading to longer stays in Wanaka by Chinese tourists and an upsurge in tourists from Europe and the United States, Mr Helmore said.
''It's pretty pleasing to see that we've seen those traditional markets come back because we have always maintained those relationships through the likes of Trenz and some of the market activity we have undertaken through partnerships.''
He expected the overall trend upwards to continue for the next two to three years ''barring a global financial shock''.
That was likely to lead to some ''capacity constraints'', with hotels at 80% occupancy in February.
While that was ''just one month'', accommodation providers were beginning to reinvest in their industry by refurbishing rooms and considering additions.
