Fans and media following their beloved rugby teams from England, Ireland and Romania will have "an immediate business impact" on Queenstown and boost its profile as a sports tournament training ground, Destination Queenstown and Lakes Leisure say.
DQ chief executive Tony Everitt was asked this week about the potential benefits for Wakatipu businesses when the Queenstown Events Centre becomes a training camp for the England, Ireland and Romanian squads in September as part of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
The Irish team will be training at the centre from September 2 to 7, followed by Romania from September 11 to 15, and England from September 19 to 22.
The cup will take place across New Zealand from September 9 to October 23.
Lakes Leisure communications and development manager Rachelle Greene said this week players would have access to the centre's turf, gym and pool facilities, but the public would not be excluded during their stays.
"The English team are here mainly for [rest and relaxation] and they're keen to get out and do activities, while the Irish team will actually train.
"They'll be at the right stage of the tour."
Lakes Leisure was encouraging all players to engage with the community.
The idea was to help residents feel a part of the World Cup, despite the absence of games in Queenstown, Miss Greene said.
Mr Everitt said the regional tourism organisation would work with its members to make sure the town was "seen in the great light we know it is."
"Probably the most important thing is it helps build the profile of Queenstown because there's always a contingent of media that follow their teams around and we expect the media will be camped in the resort for several days along with the team and there'll be plenty of opportunity to pitch the various charms of Queenstown to them, as well as the sporting message."
Mr Everitt said DQ was expecting significant number of fans to follow the teams, especially from England.
The New Zealand tourism market had been soft due to the poor economic situation in the United Kingdom for the past 18 months.
"Hopefully, this is an opportunity to give it a kick-start," he said.
