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Sound and fury: Risks and realities collide in plans to fix overcrowding at premium tourist destination

By Peta Carey
New Zealand Listener·
16 mins to read

How to fix the overcrowding issue at Milford Sound/Piopiotahi has been the focus of intense discussion for more than four decades. Even in the early 1980s, the influx of visitors during the peak summer months seemed unbearable. Back then, the annual numbers edged over 200,000 a year. In 2003, this writer wrote for the Listener about the proposal to lower a barrier arm across the road when Milford reached capacity – by then, about 450,000 a year. In 2019, pre-Covid,

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