Quentin Nolan’s love of snow has led him to making a career out of it.

He first set up MountainWatch Travel in Australia when he was 22 after spying a gap in the ski tourism industry and now, 16 years on, he still organises custom ski holidays through that, while this week finally pushing the start button on Snow Machine.

Nolan expects 5000 people in Queenstown, a place he now officially calls home, for the four days of music, skiing and apres adventure which he reckons will inject $15 million into the economy.

‘‘It’s really been spread throughout the whole town — through all the hospitality businesses, we’ve partnered with retailers and ski hire companies, the ski resorts, transport providers, right down to local trades … as well as event hire companies that have been really struggling in the last two years.’’

The event, concocted with festival partner Chris Murray, was created to use a location’s accommodation at an off-peak time while offering punters a unique experience.

‘‘It’s sort of combining a holiday plus a festival into one,’’ he says.

‘‘We did that successfully in Japan in 2020, when the first Snow Machine happened in Hakuba, and we’ve rolled out that concept to bring it to Queenstown — it’s the most ideal place with everything that’s on offer here.’’

Nolan says after moving to Queenstown with his family late last year, running his business from the CBD while still keeping his Sydney office, he has no plans to ever leave.

‘‘We absolutely love it — we want to stay here for good now and grow the business here and bring people in a way that’s going to be good for the whole town.’’

Snow Machine runs till tomorrow with stages at Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, and Queenstown PrimarySchool’s field.

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