The SME Stream

Queenstown has long been associated with jet boats, ski fields and postcard-perfect mountains.
But if veteran entrepreneur and online travel heavyweight Roger Sharp has his way, the resort town’s next big export won’t be adrenaline, it will be software.
Sharp, who has spent decades at the cutting edge of online travel with companies like Webjet, Lastminute.com.au and WebBeds, is on a mission to diversify Queenstown’s tourism‑heavy economy by turning it into the southern hemisphere’s go‑to hub for travel technology.
His vehicle for doing that is Technology Queenstown, which has a 20‑year plan to grow a billion‑dollar tech economy in the region, lifting tech from 1.5% of local GDP to as high as 15–20%.
Travel tech conference as a catalyst
In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, Sharp makes the case for why a town built on tourism must now become equally famous for tech. Next week’s Web in Travel (WiT) conference, which Sharp secured the rights to host, will see a who’s who of travel innovation descend on the lakeside town, including senior leaders from airlines, hotel tech, payment platforms, online travel agencies and B2B marketplaces.
For Sharp, hosting them is about giving Queenstown critical mass and visibility as a testbed for new travel technologies. He tells me how he’s been building the scaffolding needed for a true cluster, convincing Queenstown Resort College to teach data and machine learning, coaxing the University of Otago to establish a digital tech campus, as well as recruiting a roster of long‑term corporate backers from Accenture to Genesis Energy and One NZ.
Learning from tourism towns
He’s borrowed lessons from North American mountain towns like Bend and Boulder, which successfully layered high‑value tech jobs on top of lifestyle economies.
But this isn’t a Silicon Valley clone play. Sharp is well aware of the risks of creating “a two‑class society” where tech workers thrive while hospitality workers are squeezed out of housing. His vision is growth with guardrails: higher‑paid, lower‑footprint jobs that ease pressure on roads, emissions and infrastructure, and give local kids a reason to stay rather than leave for Sydney or London.
Listen to the full episode, streaming on iHeartRadio, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Supporters say NZ has opportunity with renewable energy to build a cleaner digital infrastructure sector, but there's been backlash overseas.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federated Farmers Mark Hooper on H5N1, plus how record returns are helping farmers cut debt.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NZ retail card spending rewinds on gains made in May, Stripe makes a $90b bid for PayPal, and US Treasury to mint a $1 coin with Trumps face on it.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The country's economic recovery may be coming.
New Infometrics forecasts show annual economic growth is set to reach a four-year high of 2.7% mid-next year.
They show the chances of yearly inflation continuing above 2% by then have dropped.
Chief Forecaster Gareth Kiernan told Mike Hosking that as long as fuel prices stay at manageable levels, they expect to see positive indicators return over the next six to twelve months.
He says we’re nearing the point where we’re growing as fast as we can without generating inflation, and they do see a case for rates increases, but nothing as fast as they were previously looking at when fuel prices where over $3 a litre.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.