From simple beginnings in 1967 when Skyline Queenstown launched the first gondola on Bob’s Peak the company is today spearheading a multimillion-dollar investment including a state-of-the-art gondola and a major expansion of its entire facility.

General manager Wayne Rose says the company also marks its 100-millionth Luge ride in June this year with healthy contributions across its eight sites including two in New Zealand and six internationally. 

“Our Luge operations continue to outstrip expectations. Reaching 100 million rides is an astonishing feat and a major milestone for the brand and the global Luge family. To dream up, design and implement a fun, affordable activity for people of all ages and all abilities that stands the test of time is testament to the foresight and pioneering spirit of the organisation.”

 “The first implementation was at Skyline Skyrides in Rotorua in 1986 before adding the activity to our Queenstown site in 1997. Now the company has offshore locations in Canada, South Korea, Singapore and Maylasia where we are expanding operations. Plans are also well advanced for a venture in Swansea, Wales.”

The $250 million over plus overhaul of the Skyline Queenstown operation, dubbed Project Queenstown, has been on the books since 2014 and the flagship gondola, with its 10-seat cabins replacing the former four-seat cabins and new top and base terminals, opened in July 2023.

“It is exciting to add our new gondola to Queenstown’s tourism infrastructure as we experience a strong return of visitors to just below our peak in 2019,” says Wayne. “The rebuild of our top restaurant complex and viewing deck is designed to accommodate the anticipated growth of visitor numbers to Queenstown over the next 50 years and improve the overall experience for our guests.”

He says the scale of the redeveloped top complex undertaking is immense and designed to have as little impact as possible on the tourist activity.

“First, we’re building an extension large enough to accommodate 2019 visitor numbers. This will be completed in March 2026 at which point we’ll transfer the entire operation into the new premise before deconstructing and rebuilding the existing complex and finally stitching the two seamlessly together. The whole project is planned for completion in 2029 at which point the current operation will have essentially doubled in size creating a world-class leisure tourism destination including a large conference facility, modular in design.”

Wayne paid tribute to the collaboration of the operational and construction teams for achieving a difficult project with the minimum amount of disruption for visitors to Skyline.

“We have worked very closely together to ensure everything goes to plan and day-to-day operations have been able to continue despite major work being carried out alongside a sizeable tourism operation.”

Supporting Volunteers

Skyline Queenstown recognises the challenges faced by organisers of large events and has put its hand up to sponsor volunteers for the likes of the Queenstown Marathon, Arrowtown Autumn Festival and the Matariki Festival over the last few years.

“Last year alone we donated over 1000 gondola passes for volunteering efforts,” says general manager Wayne Rose. “We have seen the huge challenges event organisers face in attracting volunteers and are pleased to be able to add our support.”

The auction of the former four-seat gondola cabins, following the installation of the new cableway in 2023, has also been a bonus for local charities.

“We were quite overwhelmed with the interest in the cabins and raised over $100,000 which was split between the Branches Charitable Trust and the Whakatipu Wilding Control Group.”

      Skyline Queenstown Highlights

• State-of-the art ten seat gondola replaces four seat cabin cableway with a new theoretical capacity of 3000 guests per hour.
• Luge operations over eight New Zealand and international sites hits 100 million Luge rides
• Restaurant increases from 240 to 550 seats – offering buffet, a la carte and private dining
• New café caters for over 300 people
• Top complex viewing deck extended from 68 to 460 square metres
• Conference facilities to accommodate 350 seated or a 600 person cocktail event