Queenstown's downtown business community is worried the town risks becoming a carbon copy of any other resort in the world.
Business owners are forming an incorporated society and will employ a manager to represent their interests.
Wellington-based consultant Chris Wilkinson told business owners that central Queenstown needed a master plan to encourage more co-operation between retailers, hospitality providers and landlords.
He said then they could tackle the big issues such as the growing displacement of boutique stores with homogenous global brands.
"It's going to disenfranchise itself from the locals very quickly and Queenstown could have a challenge for that, we're losing some of the amenities stores, we're losing some of the stores that people have treasured for years."
He said tourists did not want to come to Queenstown to shop at stores they can access online or in their own cities.