The community initiative was set up to work towards a shared future vision for the Queenstown Lakes district in partnership with the Queenstown Lakes District Council, the Wanaka and Queenstown Chambers of Commerce, Lake Wanaka Tourism and Destination Queenstown.
Steering group spokesman David Kennedy said the turnout for the forums had been "amazing', with about 300 people coming together to debate the issues in the four Queenstown and Wanaka forums.
About 100 people attended Queenstown's May 12 economic futures forum, followed by close to 60 for the forum on May 17, which focused on events and how they could support the envisioned economic future.
"People welcomed the process and contributed great ideas in good faith," Mr Kennedy said. "There's been a lot of work behind the scenes, and we were very pleased to see people engage at the initial forum and really think about what the key economic drivers of the district have been and what they might be in the future." One of the key outcomes of the events forum was the view that the district needed what Cr Simon Stamers-Smith called a "one-stop shop", or central co-ordinating body, to guide and facilitate events in the district.
Mr Kennedy said there was "a lot of support" for a central agency to guide development and strategy for events in the district.
The idea of a co-ordinating body was further explored near the end of the Queenstown events forum, with participants working in groups to discuss what form such a body might take.
Suggestions ranged from using steering groups comprised of industry experts or a diverse cross-section of people from the community to an organisation like Destination Queenstown sitting under an existing body.
In presenting his forum group's ideas, Sir Eion Edgar raised the possibility of a "not-for-profits" board and a "for-profits" operations section, with possible funding coming from central government, trusts and corporations.
Otago Polytechnic Centre for Sustainable Practice director Steve Henry ran the forums, along with steering group member Dave Roberts.
Mr Henry said the forums were based on successful models in Scandinavia and, in particular, the Canadian resort of Whistler, Columbia.
"In the municipality of Whistler, Columbia, it's been running for five years and 85% of the recommendations that the futures groups made to relevant agencies have been enacted."
The second economic future forums will be held in Queenstown on June 28 and in Wanaka on June 30, and the events forums in Wanaka on July 5 and Queenstown on July 7.
