Film industry leaders in Queenstown say the tourism boom is preventing some film and television productions from being made in New Zealand.
Queenstown Photo: 123RF
Film Otago Southland executive manager Kevin Jennings said the shortage of hotel rooms was threatening what had been a thriving regional production industry.
He said it was not just Queenstown that was affected.
"One couldn't get crew in Auckland so she shifted the shoot down here only to find that she couldn't get accommodation.
"And these pressures aren't specific to Queenstown, Auckland has a similar issue. During these peak times, it's very difficult to find rooms.
"It's great that tourism's booming, it just doesn't bode that well for us."
Mr Jennings said there was a compelling business case for keeping some accommodation available for overseas production teams, which would bring with them a production budget as well as international exposure for the locations used.
The number of tourists is expected to surge from 3.3 million this year to 4.5 million by 2022, and an independent report released on Tuesday said the five main tourist destinations would need 9700 more hotel rooms by 2025 to cater to the increase.
They included Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown, and current plans for hotels in those areas would leave a shortfall of about 4500 rooms.