A better way? The World’s Finest Walk broke the internet last year. Photo / 123
A better way? The World’s Finest Walk broke the internet last year. Photo / 123
OPINION
The Department of Conservation has announced that the Great Walks are set to open for bookings this month, with demand for the Milford Track and the 10 other trails expected to exceed pre-pandemic numbers. Is it time to rethink a better way to allocate places in DoC’s most hotly-contested bunks?
The World’s Finest Walk broke the internet last year, after tens of thousands of trampers tried simultaneously to book the 120 beds between Te Anau and Piopiotahi/Milford Sound. This year it’s likely to get even harder to get a boot in the door.
Potential trampers will have to log on to the DoC Website for 9.30am on opening day to be in with a chance.
It’s a process Wilderness Magazine flippantly described as designed to appeal to the “middle-class tramping community”.
Certainly anybody not within easy access to a computer or able to spend a morning battling with the IT issues is doomed to be locked out for another year.
The Great Walks were created 32 years ago to combat over-tourism and relieve pressure on the most popular multi-day hikes.
Although some smug trampers would suggest they were designed to keep international tourists and weekend walkers out of their beloved backcountry huts, the Greats are great precisely because they appeal to the masses. They are intended to be achievable by the widest range of walkers possible.
Of course this was by 1992′s definition of mass appeal. There were 2 million fewer Kiwis then, and a space would set you back a maintenance fee of just $3. Not $92 a night, as it does now to walk the Milford Track.
Now it appears New Zealand’s most popular outdoor conservation project may be unsustainable.
But is there a more equitable way to allocate these spaces? Rather than a first come, first served bun fight for bunks - which only adds to the number of people logging on at 9.30am - maybe it’s time to try another way.
Some trails of renown allocate spaces via lottery. The Wave and many of North America’s permit walks require would-be-walkers to register for a draw, with a second draw set aside for locals and those in the area the day before. This means places are allocated by chance to keen trampers not by broadband speed - and there’s still a chance for latecomers to compete.
Elsewhere popular trails have been assigned only to tourists who can secure a licenced guide, like Annapurna Circuit or Peru’s Inca Trail.
This has the dual purpose of protecting both local jobs and international tourists. With a risk of running into mountain lions and death-defying altitude, they’re quite different to New Zealand’s relatively genteel 10 great circuits.
Other world-class tramping circuits have tried to reserve spaces for locals by hiking up the prices for international visitors.
The recently completed Trans Bhutan Trail has an eye-watering US$200 per day tourist tax plus a US$297 ($840) access fee for a two-day section. While Bhutan has argued the trail’s focus is on “low impact, high value” visitors, it’s also a nice little revenue earner for the world’s happiest country.
The new Trans Bhutan Trail will follow 500 years of hiking history. Photo / Faris Mohammed, Unsplash
DoC began its International Tourist pricing structure in 2019, with an aim of reserving more bunks for Kiwis and helping subsidise the facilities via international tramping tickets. Though this did not stop the Milford Track from booking out in three minutes flat, while borders were closed in 2021.
For now the only solution to more demand from great walkers is to add more great walks. From October the network gains an eleventh Great Walk out of Tuatapere, Southland.
While it’s taken several more seasons than planned to bring the trail up to standard, there are plenty more walks around the country with potential for greatness.
How to Book a Space on New Zealand’s Great Walks
The tramping club: Log on with a group of walkers with everyone’s booking details and ideal dates. Although this is only feeding into DoC website traffic congestion - you’ll up the odds of your group getting the places you want.
The second attempt: If at first you don’t succeed, log on again in 30 minutes. Spaces reserved for uncompleted bookings are released back into the system half an hour later. Though the Milford may appear to be completely full, check in again at around 10.30 to look for cancellations.
