Gay Ski Week's Sally Whitewoods with Ziptrek staff A fittingly located ‘Camp St’ store is the first Queenstown business to get into the Gay Ski Week mood, by giving its shop and staff a rainbow makeover. Gay Ski Week begins on Saturday 30 August and runs through to 6 September, and Queenstown will be packed with hundreds of lgbt people skiing, socialising and partying. Eco-Tourism operator Ziptrek is already getting into the spirit of things with its entry the 'Gay on The Bay' competition where local shops, cafes, stores and other businesses are encouraged to dress-up their windows and staff to win $1,000 worth of airtime on More FM. "We get more and more businesses each year going rainbow for the week," says Gay Ski Week organiser Sally Whitewoods. "We love the locals getting behind us and the event and there's no better way to show support than to go rainbow. It's our chance to showcase Queenstown at its best to the lgbt community." This year the main streets of Queenstown will also be flying rainbow flags in support. “I went to San Francisco Pride earlier this year and all the stores there go hard out with their rainbow-themed decorations," Whitewoods says. "I know Queenstown can do just as well, with a bit of thought and enthusiasm." Businesses who want to enter the Gay on the Bay competition just need to camp up their shop and staff for a day, take a picture and enter here www.gayskiweekqt.com Whitewoods says this year's Gay Ski Week has already exceeded the organisers' expectations with increased bookings, near sold-out events and 'all ticket' passes selling even better than they had hoped. "Tickets are selling for most of the key events, numbers are up yet again and the final night party promises to be the biggest dance party Queenstown has ever seen," Whitewoods says. She tells GayNZ.com Daily News the tradition of Gay Ski Week mostly attracting people from overseas is shifting. "We're getting a lot of New Zealanders now, a lot from Australia of course and a small but increasing number from the USA ... our marketing there is working well." She’s excited. "We're in for an amazing week of fun, frivolity and skiing, we can't wait for everyone to arrive."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 21st August 2014 - 1:31pm