Novotel Lakeside Queenstown general manager Jim Moore said statistics presented at the New Zealand Hotel Council (NZHC) meeting indicated Queenstown had "gone backwards" by up to 11% since 2008, but the numbers could be misleading.
The statistics only took into account NZHC members and did not include apartment complexes which had come on-stream last year, such as the Rees and the Oaks.
Mr Moore said although people were still travelling and the summer had not been bad, the market had definitely softened in the resort.
However, he suspected that might have happened regardless of the recession.
"Obviously, some of the issues would have happened anyway in terms of an oversupply in town," he said.
"We are suggesting that some of the people who have come were committed to coming anyway.
"They were probably fairly committed and, really, whether people that are losing their jobs or in danger of losing their jobs are going to get on and do long-haul travel is debatable.
"We have all been through this before with the likes of the Asian banking issues, Sars, 9/11. They've all had effects, but tourism is also fairly resilient.
"The good thing is someone was saying the winter is looking OK from a ski perspective, so hopefully that will work [in our favour]."
Mr Moore said no-one could really pick what was going to happen with the economy, but caution was warranted.
"It's hard [to strike the right balance] . . . We need to be careful with our wages [and other expenses], but we can't let our service standards go down the gurgler either," he said.
"When it's a bit tough, we're trying to make sure we're as efficient as possibly can be, saving money that way."
Dropping room rates was "always an option", he said.
"The reality is in this market everybody is looking for a deal, and price does stimulate demand."
New Zealand Hotel Council Queenstown chairwoman Victoria Shaw said generally summer had been "fine".
While noticeably down on previous summers in the resort, the feeling was business had not been too badly affected.
"The bookings, particularly, have changed significantly since last year.
"What used to happen, particularly with our major offshore markets, were bookings well in advance.
"You could forward forecast to a certain degree."
While a lot of hotels were still enjoying forward bookings from skiers planning a winter trip to the resort, many were feeling the effects of last-minute internet bookings, she said.
Many believed if they left it until the last minute to book, they would get cheaper fares and accommodation.
That made planning ahead difficult, she said.
