Moonlight Tops Hut on the Paparoa Track Great Walk. Photo / Thomas Bywater
By RNZ
With premier Great Walk the Milford Track opening for summer bookings on Tuesday morning at 9.30, will DoC’s tech issues return?
Trampers desperate to book a spot on one of the country’s Great Walks this summer fear the Department of Conservation’s booking system will again crash due to demand.
The system has been plagued by crashes in recent years, with spots on the trails selling out fast.
But DoC has provided assurances that last year’s issues will not be repeated.
New Zealand’s 10 Great Walks are the country’s premier and most popular tramping tracks. Every year thousands of people from New Zealand and abroad try to secure a space on one of the tracks.
The booking site crashed last year when 10,000 people simultaneously tried to book the Milford Track when it went on sale.
The site came back online shortly after and the 7500 spaces sold out within hours, leaving thousands disappointed and without a spot.
Frustrated trampers took to social media with complaints of missing out after a similar crash occurred in 2021.
Federated Mountain Clubs president Megan Dimozantos said she was not confident DoC would get it right this year.
A lot of time and money went into planning Great Walk hikes and bookings should be allocated on a “Kiwi-first” basis, so people did not miss out, she said.
“We believe ... New Zealanders should get first dibs on the Great Walk bookings once they open, before they’re opened to internationals and to commercial,” she said.
Gerard Hindmarsh, an avid tramper with a lifelong interest in New Zealand’s backcountry, said the booking system was frustrating and impossible to navigate.
People struggled to secure dates and thousands missed out each year, he said.
“It’s a hectic affair and there’s thousands of Kiwi trampers that are still left extremely disappointed that they can’t get their dates and it’s impossible to often book long weekends or school holidays on some of our most popular tracks, which sell out completely,” he said.
Having access to the tracks was “New Zealand’s legacy” and opening up the booking system to residents three months before the rest of the world would ensure Kiwis did not miss out, Hindmarsh said.
DoC director of heritage and visitors Cat Wilson said more Kiwis than ever before were hiking the Great Walks after the department introduced lower pricing for New Zealanders in 2018 to better manage international demand.
Differential pricing and opening bookings at times better suited to New Zealanders had immediately increased the number of Kiwis on the tracks.
“Even with international visitors returning over the past year, the Great Walks continue to attract high levels of domestic tourism,” Wilson said.
“Previously, New Zealanders made up 40 per cent of visitors, whereas the year-to-date mix is about 63 per cent New Zealanders and 37 per cent international visitors.”
The department had made changes to the website and tested it before bookings for the Milford and Lake Waikaremoana tracks opening on Tuesday morning.
Wilson would not elaborate on what those changes were, but said she was confident there would not be a repeat of last year.
Two Danish citizens and an American have also reportedly died.