Much of the area is often referred to as Queenstown because of the popularity of the resort town, but the district covers a much wider area, including the towns of Wānaka to the north-east, Glenorchy to the north-west and Kingston to the south.

The Queenstown Lakes District is expected to grow faster than Auckland over the period 2006–31.

The results were 82.8% European (Pākehā); 6.4% Māori; 1.5% Pasifika; 10.5% Asian; 5.3% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.2% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".

Based on ANZSIC categories, the industry sector with the largest contribution to the Queenstown Lakes District GDP was accommodation and food services, at 14.1%.

This is markedly greater than the 2.1% contribution that accommodation and food services make to the national economy.

Rental, hiring and real estate services contributed 10.5%, compared with 6.2% in the national economy.

[15] As a major visitor destination, Queenstown Lakes District has a much higher proportion of people in employed in accommodation (8.7%) than the national average (1.1%).

The four largest industries in the district based on employment were accommodation, cafes and restaurants, house construction, and the operation of sports and physical recreation venues.