Mr Key, who is also tourism minister, told guests at a National Party breakfast co-hosted by the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce the resort was missing out on valuable tourism dollars because it lacked a convention centre.
After the Queenstown Lakes District Council heard from 32 verbal submitters last week - out of the pool of 748 - on the proposal for a centre, it decided to delay decision day until next week, rather than make a decision today as originally planned.
The council's chief executive, Adam Feeley, told the Mountain Scene public submissions had raised ''genuine issues which need to be clarified''.
Before getting to this point, two years ago the council established a group of resort-based representatives, independent of the council, to look at the issues surrounding building a convention centre in Queenstown.
Group members included Queenstown-based businessman Sir Eion Edgar, Queenstown Chamber of Commerce deputy chairman Miles Wilson, then-New Zealand Hotel Council Queenstown chairwoman Penny Clark, Destination Queenstown convention bureau manager Kylie Brittain and entertainer Steve Wilde.
In August 2011 Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden told the Otago Daily Times: ''I'm not a huge believer that this is a council-funded project in its entirety because it's commercial, so I think we need to look at all sorts of options for getting the funding''.
Ms van Uden also said, while Mr Key had highlighted the possibilities of such a centre, the concept had been evolving over the previous six months.
The idea of a convention centre has clearly divided the community, the council being ''urged'' by some to continue with its plans and by others being told helping to develop a convention centre was not its responsibility and was something that should be left to the private sector.
A Queenstown Chamber of Commerce question-and-answer session held last month for members of the resort's business community ended in both rapturous applause and defiant boos.
Regional chairwoman of the Tourism Industry Association Penny Clark told the audience of more than 100 that 20 years ago a centre was being asked for and she acknowledged there would be risk, ''but if anybody has the balls to pull it off, Queenstown can''.
The council has previously announced its preferred operator for a $50 million centre to cater for up to 750 people is SkyCity Entertainment Group and the preferred site is known as Lakeview, above the town centre.
