Queenstown beats other regions, including Auckland, in its green performance, according to international holidaymakers, the latest Regional Visitor Monitor (RVM) research shows.
Tourists from overseas rated highly the importance of visiting an environmentally friendly destination and 67% rated the overall environmental management of the resort as world leading, compared with the national benchmark of 46%.
International visitors placed the most emphasis on the protection of plants and animals and efficient energy use.
Visiting Kiwis expected good public transport and waste management in the region.
Destination Queenstown general marketing manager Graham Budd said the development of environmental questions in the latest RVM was important in understanding visitor motivations to travel.
"The RVM provides valuable insight into the motivations and satisfaction levels of our visitors, giving us and local operators a good indication of how and why travel decisions are made, and if Queenstown is fulfilling travel needs," Mr Budd said.
"It's also a useful tool to check that we are operating as a premium four-season resort town."
The RVM reported that Queenstown continued to dominate the holiday market, with 77% visiting for a holiday, compared with an average of 49% of visitors stating a holiday as the reason for travel across the rest of country.
While the environmental research was new, Mr Budd said "it is interesting to note only 12% of respondents rated being environmentally friendly as one of the top three most important factors in their travel needs.
"It will be interesting to watch how this response shifts, particularly in light of the expectation that, in coming years, the environment will increasingly become a key factor in determining travel behaviour," he said.
Department of Conservation Wakatipu area manager Greg Lind said operators could see customers were discerning and were attracted to providers where they could see efforts were being made to mitigate environmental impacts.
"There is a serious amount of effort from operators to reduce or offset their carbon footprint. We've seen a lot of work on pine wilding control, predator control, replanting native vegetation.
"They're getting involved in species, conservation, monitoring and protection projects, and we would welcome more contributions."Tourism Minister Damien O'Connor said the research showed New Zealand was still considered by travellers to be world-class environmentally.
"However, there is no room for complacency; there is still work to do to lift our game and match our 100% Pure New Zealand promise.
"As it is our environment that underpins our 100% Pure brand, we need to take credible and visible steps to reduce our environmental impact and improve our environmental management."
