More than 800 elite snow and ice athletes from 38 countries will descend on the slopes of Wanaka and Queenstown and the curling sheets of Naseby for the fifth New Zealand Winter Games.
The games will provide about 30,000 bed nights across the district.
The 16-day multisport event begins with an opening ceremony at Coronet Peak next Friday.
The games present a last chance for some athletes to qualify for the Winter Olympics in February
and the timing will broaden the appeal of the event to include international audiences.
NZ Winter Games chief executive Arthur Klap said all the indications pointed to the 2017 games being the best yet.
"With it being five months before the Winter Olympics, obviously it’s an important event for the competitors as they build up to the games and get their qualifications points.
"So this is clearly going to be a record entry in terms of numbers, but also the quality is exceptionally high."
As well as showcasing some of the world’s leading winter athletes, the economic impact of the games to the region is expected to be substantial.
In 2013 the event pumped about $7.3million into the local economy just from athletes’ spending, which did not include the equivalent marketing spend from international coverage of the games.
Mr Klap said he expected that figure would be higher this year.
The 2013 games gave a much better idea of what to expect this year than the 2015 event because it was held just before the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
For the first time the event will be broadcast on television in Australia, which was significant, Mr Klap said.
"Because we’re leading in to the Olympics and the international field is so strong, the interest from international broadcasters from the likes of Korea, Japan, the States, Spain all coming here to do their own filming ... [means] the reach is going to be much higher than it has ever been."
Digital content produced by sponsors and promoted on social media was also substantial, he said. The content totalled about $6million worth of advertising for the Queenstown Lakes district and wider New Zealand.
Winter Games Trust chairman Sir Eion Edgar said it was clear this would be the best Winter Games yet.
"The scale of it is so much greater now. It looks like we’ve about 30,000 bed nights and the Chinese alone are taking up over 5000 bed nights, so it’s certainly scaled up."
The increased coverage would give young New Zealand snow athletes greater exposure, Sir Eion said.
"It’s fantastic for the winter sports industry because it allows our promising young athletes a chance to be seen by the world at home and gives them a chance to get to the next level."
The next step was to move to an annual competition to provide the level of stability needed to continue to improve the event.
Tourism Wanaka and Destination Queenstown are games partners.
Wanaka Tourism chief executive James Helmore said the Winter Games ticked all the boxes for his organisation.
"The key thing is that the event has been pushed out to late August-early September, which means it’s having an impact on town when it’s usually moving into the shoulder season."
Including Treble Cone in this year’s games was an added bonus for Wanaka, Mr Helmore said.
Destination Queenstown marketing and communications director Sarah O’Donnell said the move to hold the event later in the year was also good for Queenstown.
"Everyone knows about our premium skiing in July and August, but we’re really trying to push the shoulder season too — and the Winter Games, aside from the economic boost it provides through the athletes, also puts a huge spotlight on the Southern Lakes district through the media coverage."
By the numbers
• 800 + athletes
• 16 days of competition
• 5 sports
• 7 venues
• 30,000 + bed nights
• $7.3m + into local economy
• 65 hours of domestic television time
