Queenstown is the third most popular New Zealand destination for Kiwis going on holiday this summer, behind Wellington and Auckland.
According to the latest Fly Buys/Colmar Brunton Mood of the New Zealand Traveller survey, released by the Tourism Industry Association, more than half the New Zealanders surveyed were planning to travel within New Zealand over the Christmas and New Year period.
Of those, the majority were planning to visit Wellington, which has remained the top domestic destination for New Zealanders for several years, having only been beaten once since the quarterly survey began in September 2009 - by Christchurch in 2010.
The survey showed Queenstown rose one spot on the 2010 survey results to be the third most popular holiday destination this summer and the most popular regional destination, with 46% of those surveyed saying they were coming to the resort to visit friends and family. A total of 44% planned to take part in outdoor activities.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said he was "very pleased" with the results, particularly given the first and second spots were taken by "New Zealand's largest population bases".
DQ members would also be heartened to see the number of visitors planning on taking part in outdoor activities, which would give businesses and the resort's economy a welcome boost.
"It's great to get that rating this week as Jetstar launch their Wellington-Queenstown direct flights ... the domestic market has become more important to us in these times of uncertain global financial markets."
Jetstar is due to launch the daily Wellington-Queenstown service on Thursday.
Mr Everitt said anecdotally, summer tourism was "pretty much on track with what we were expecting" so far.
"It's not going to set the world on fire, however ... it's probably the only robust season so far this year. We're getting back on our bike - we're starting to see visitor volumes around last year's levels."
Tourism Industry Association chief executive Tim Cossar believed an overall increase in the number of New Zealanders planning to travel within their own country this year was in part due to "pent up demand" from those who did not travel during the Rugby World Cup.
The survey showed 52% were planning to travel within New Zealand over the holiday period, up from 46% in 2010.
Internationally, Australia remained the top destination for summer/autumn holidays, followed by Fiji, the United Kingdom, the United States and Rarotonga.
