Whether or not he is standing for mayor will be revealed at a 12.30pm press conference today.
An invitation to local media, sent out late yesterday, did not specify the nature of Mr Hayes' announcement other than to say it would be "breaking news".
"The announcement will be of interest to all who reside or have business interests in the Queenstown Lakes district region," his press release yesterday stated.
Mr Hayes could not be reached for a comment yesterday.
In June, Mr Hayes denied rumours he would be running for mayor.
"I have no intention of standing for the mayoralty. Certain people have asked me to consider standing, but I wouldn't stand at this stage," he told the Otago Daily Times in an interview at that time.
In 2001, he challenged Clive Geddes and Jerry Hohneck for the mayoralty, but was unsuccessful, losing to Mr Geddes.
Mr Hayes served for several periods on council, and narrowly beat Mr Hohneck to the position as deputy mayor in 1998.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Clive Geddes said he did not know whether Mr Hayes intended to run for the mayoralty.
Mr Geddes has announced he will not be running again.
"I last spoke to Simon Hayes three to four weeks ago, and at the time he was adamant he was not going to run for council or mayor. But since John S. Wilson has announced he is no longer a candidate for the post as mayor, other potential candidates might have reconsidered their position," Mr Geddes said.
Cr John S. Wilson, who this week announced he was withdrawing his bid for the mayoralty, said he did not know Mr Hayes well personally, but had heard rumours he might be a candidate.
"Many people seem to point to Simon Hayes for the position. He had a good reputation as councillor. But I do not know if he will be running or not," Mr Wilson said.
Mr Hayes works as a real estate agent for Harcourts.
Harcourts Queenstown manager Kelvin Collins declined to comment on whether his agent would be running for mayor.
