Love Wānaka is the first project to come to life from the newly adopted Destination Management Plan for the Southern-Lakes region: Travel to a Thriving Future.
It will be guided by Destination Southern Lakes (DSL) a partnership organisation formed in 2023 by Lake Wānaka Tourism and Destination Queenstown to drive forward our region’s regenerative tourism plan.
The DSL board consists of executives from partnership organisations as well as independent industry leaders. The role of this board is to drive forward the destination management plan and ensure the projects and activities stemming from this plan are implemented in a way that supports a more regenerative tourism ecosystem across the Southern-Lakes region.
Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown (our joint initiative over the hill) are delivered in partnership with the Wakatipu Community Foundation – a donor driven charitable trust that supports localised philanthropy in our region. The Foundation was integral to the development of Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown, and continues to support these in an advisory, audit and compliance capacity.
We’re all about supporting a unique, localised response to the challenges and opportunities of high-volume visitation, with targeted and strategic funding to those who know best. Our independent distribution committee is tasked with setting the overall distribution strategy, reviewing grant applications, and allocating funds to the organisations and initiatives who are best-placed to provide impact, where it’s needed most. This committee consists of local experts in both the grant-making and sustainability / environmental space.