Airport praised for environment focus

A number of South Island businesses have won big at the 2023 New Zealand Tourism Awards.

The winners were announced on Tuesday at a gala dinner in Wellington at the city's new convention centre Tākina.

Christchurch Airport claimed the KiwiRail Tourism Environment Award.

The Canterbury company was described as having positioned itself as a leader in "airport climate leadership", influencing how the aviation industry globally is transitioning.

Former CEO of Christchurch Airport, Malcolm Johns, was recognised with the Sir Jack Newman Outstanding Industry Leader Award.

Skyline Queenstown won the BDO Tourism Excellence Award (Large Business), after a multimillion-dollar project which saw the company upgrade its popular gondola attraction.

Thirty-six old four-person cabins were replaced this year with new modern 10-seater gondola cabins, providing more capacity for the growing number of tourists and a faster ride up Bob's Peak.

Another Queenstown business, Altitude Tours, won the NZME Visitor Experience Award.

The tourism operator offers premium vehicle tours to some of the region's most iconic locations in a small group setting.

Co-founder of Altitude Tours, Heidi Farren, also took out the Eudora+ Emerging Tourism Leader category.