How Wānaka earned $57m over a long weekend

Wednesday, 10 June 2026

Warbirds Over Wānaka drew 60,800 attendances over three days, with visitors staying an average 4.6 nights.

A three-day airshow over Easter weekend became a $57 million visitor surge for Wānaka, with Warbirds crowds staying nearly five nights on average.

The 2026 airshow drew 60,800 attendances over three days and 36,500 unique visitors, fewer than in 2024, but total direct spending rose from $41m to $57m.

Warbirds general manager Ed Taylor said the jump was driven by more visitors from outside the region, higher travel and accommodation costs, and the way many people turned the event into a wider holiday.

Warbirds Over Wānaka says its 2026 airshow generated $57 million in direct spending across Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago.

The figure puts Warbirds well ahead of two major Christchurch events on headline spend, although the measures are not directly identical.

Christchurch’s Super Rugby Pacific Super Round generated $13.1m in visitor spending and 49,600 visitor nights, while Electric Avenue brought in almost $14m and about 80,000 visitor nights.

Warbirds said the figure was calculated using a method based on Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment economic evaluation guidelines.

However, the figure is not directly comparable with Christchurch’s Super Round and Electric Avenue results, because Warbirds measured total direct spending across Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago, while the Christchurch figures were reported as visitor spending in the city.

Warbirds reported 130,517 bed nights and an average stay of 4.6 nights, helping explain why a three-day event produced such a large regional spend.

Taylor said Wānaka accommodation sold out during the airshow, with visitors staying as far away as Omarama, Alexandra and Queenstown.

“Our Australian tour groups tend to stay in Queenstown.”

The three-day airshow became a wider visitor boost, with 130,517 bed nights recorded across the region.

Those tour groups could run from five to 13 days, taking in places such as Milford Sound and Aoraki/Mt Cook, he said.

“So the money gets spread right around the region.”

Taylor said the event’s appeal went beyond aviation enthusiasts. Families often arrived early, set up picnic blankets and stayed for the whole day.

“We have intergenerational people coming here,” he said. “Mum, dad, the kids and granddad and grandma and everybody else.”

Taylor said organisers took some criticism after the modern military display was cancelled a week before the event, but most aviation fans understood the fuel-related decision.

The setting also helped make the event unusual compared with other similar events overseas, he said.

Warbirds had nearly 700 campervans parked on a high country terrace beside the airport, giving spectators a direct view of aircraft flying past.

“They’re looking straight into the cockpit of these aircraft as they come through. You can’t do that anywhere else in the world,” he said.

The Clutha River, nearby mountains and compact airfield created a backdrop Taylor said visitors could not find at most overseas airshows.

Canterbury remained Warbirds’ biggest visitor market, making up 39% of visitors, while Auckland rose to 14% after a targeted marketing campaign and is now level with Otago.

Taylor said organisers did not want to keep growing the crowd at the small airfield, and had capped numbers to preserve the family-day-out feel.

“We don’t want to pack them in like sardines.”

The next Warbirds Over Wanaka will be the event’s 40th anniversary show in 2028.