Carbon Measurement Made Simple

Understanding carbon emissions is one of the most practical steps businesses can take to prepare for the future. For tourism operators in the Queenstown Lakes, a new, fully subsidised carbon measurement tool makes this easier than ever, helping businesses measure their footprint, reduce emissions, and contribute to a collective district-wide picture of the tourism’s carbon footprint.

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Making Carbon Measurement Simple

For many businesses, carbon measurement has seemed complicated, expensive, or out of reach. That barrier is being broken down with the Cogo Vistr Carbon Manager tool, which is fully subsidised for local tourism operators. By linking directly with commonly used accounting software such as Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks, the tool automatically categorises spending into New Zealand based emissions factors and calculates a clear, spend-based carbon footprint estimate for the business.

The tool updates in real time, giving operators instant visibility into where their emissions come from and how they change over time.This is complemented by monthly reports that businesses can use internally, share with stakeholders, or use to demonstrate their sustainability efforts. For those wanting greater accuracy, activity data such as electricity use, or kilometres travelled can be added alongside financial data.

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Building a Collective District Picture

While individual businesses can track and reduce their own emissions, the real strength of this work lies in the collective. Cogo data can be securely aggregated by Vistr, which will create a district-wide carbon footprint for the tourism industry. No individual business data is shared, but together this can create a powerful view of the region’s emissions profile.

This picture highlights shared challenges such as energy use, supply chain emissions, and waste, and helps Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism design targeted support and advocate for solutions at as ystems level. It also gives the region a way to measure progress toward its decarbonisation goals and reinforces its reputation as a responsible tourism destination.

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Looking Ahead

Carbon measurement and reduction is one of the most impactful steps businesses can take toward a regenerative tourism future. Through the Cogo Vistr Carbon Manager tool, Queenstown Lakes businesses now have a straight forward way to measure, understand, and reduce their impact while contributing to the region’s carbon zero by 2030 ambition.

This work supports several projects within the Queenstown Lakes Destination Management Plan. It directly contributes to Project 8:Measure Greenhouse Gas Emissions, which helps tourism businesses analyse and report their emissions, and to the keystone Project 9: Carbon Zero by 2030, focused on accelerating the region’s decarbonisation pathway.

Operators are encouraged to sign up through the RTO Member Hub, join member capability sessions, and begin their measurement journey.

If you have any questions, feedback, or comments, pleasereach out through the contact form.

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