Exclusive Queenstown club welcomes 'golden visa' arrivals with alps expedition

As hundreds of overseas investors seek residency under the Government’s revamped “golden visa” scheme, a Queenstown private members’ club is working to help a growing wave of wealthy migrants establish connections in New Zealand.

The Financial Times reported this week that more than 700 wealthy foreigners have applied for New Zealand’s Active Investor Plus (AIP) visa in the 14 months since the Government eased the criteria for approval – compared with 115 applications in the previous three years.

More than a third of applications since April 2025 have come from Americans.

Queenstown-based Mountain Club has 440 members and, through its “Summit by Mountain Club” tier, works with people coming to New Zealand through the Active Investor Plus scheme, helping them build connections and settle into the country.

As part of that work, the club is preparing to take eight wealthy new residents on a two-day trip into the Southern Alps, according to the Financial Times.

The “Beyond the Ridgeline” experience will involve guests being helicoptered into the alps, staying in a glass geodome, having dinner prepared by a Michelin-star chef and touring a glacier with an Antarctic explorer.

Mountain Club chief executive Peter Fullerton-Smith said those taking part would do so alongside others going through a similar experience of establishing themselves in New Zealand.

Mountain Club is helping wealthy migrants arriving through New Zealand’s investor visa scheme establish connections and find their place in the country.

“They’re doing it with a cohort of people who are on the same journey as them,” he said.

“Building connection around the fact that we’re on this journey together is one of the verticals that is part of the assimilation process.”

Similar experiences were being developed in Martinborough, Northland and Waiheke, he said.

Fullerton-Smith said, however, the headline numbers had yet to translate into an obvious influx on the ground in Queenstown.

“What we have noticed since the visa rules have been relaxed is probably not a big change, if I’m honest,” he said.

“There’s a big lag effect for the reality of these individuals on the AIP programme actually arriving or deciding over time that they will arrive in New Zealand in any meaningful way.”

He said the impact of the scheme should be viewed as a “long game”.

Fullerton-Smith said the prospective migrants came from a diverse range of industries, including technology and private equity in the United States, as well as European businesses spanning print and paper, petrol stations and furniture manufacturing.

That diversity was part of the opportunity the migration scheme presented for New Zealand, he said.

Fullerton-Smith said it was still too early to determine how much additional investment would flow from migrants beyond the money required to secure residency.

However, he was seeing interest among some new arrivals in understanding other parts of the New Zealand economy.

Queenstown itself held obvious appeal for wealthy migrants, Fullerton-Smith said, including its natural environment and outdoor lifestyle.

New Zealand more broadly remained attractive when viewed against conditions elsewhere in the world, he said.

Peter Fullerton-Smith is the chief executive of Queenstown-based private members’ club Mountain Club.

“One of our really critical jobs is to help assimilate and help make these individuals feel welcome and find their sense of purpose and place, so they do want to spend more time and do want to contribute more to what we all love and want to see for New Zealand.”

Fullerton-Smith stressed Mountain Club does not provide financial advice or seek to direct the investment decisions of visa applicants.

Applicants independently deal with the financial, immigration and tax requirements of the scheme, while Mountain Club’s role is focused on the “human element” of settling into New Zealand.

“What we do is sit down and talk to often the whole family and go, so, what are you interested in? What do you care about? Who are you as a person?”

Interests ranged from adventure and arts and culture to equestrian activities and city or country living.

“No matter what your bank balance is and what background you come from, coming to a new place, even if you’re testing it out to start with, is a really scary proposition.”

Fullerton-Smith believed the influx would ultimately benefit communities such as Queenstown, although those benefits would take time to emerge.

“Over time, I see there will be huge benefit to all of New Zealand, depending on where these individuals look to reside.

“I think the key thing is, and my biggest message to everybody is it takes time.”

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.