DoC to charge visitors more on Great Walks

doc are supposed to charge a penalty fee for people turning up without a booking and its double the normal fee, although in bad weather i've seen a ranger let campers sleep in the hut completely covering the floor

Market forces at work. https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/378016/a-step-too-far-great-walks-fall-out-of-favour-with-overseas-tourists

double the fees, but only a 14% drop in overseas tourists. 14% drop on what is sometimes nearly 100% foreigner occupancy.... it will put off the foreign youth groups the most now kids kids have gone from free to the same price as foreign adults up to $140 a night... families are also more likely to be put off. there were a fair number of australian youth groups who would book on the great walks..

The drop is hardly surprising nor the other effect of those that have spent double on Great Walk spending less elsewhere.

given that you're paying a fee per person, having a group like a family group strains your finances, you can get a motel room for a family for a fraction of the price... up to $140 per person, you have to travel to get there, the routeburn and milford if you are coming in from outside you have to pay extra for transport because you have to get go into southland. the milford you pay a lot for the boat trips as well... theres a niche for these types of walks now, in Tasmania they have a 40k walk thats $500 per adult... and no shortage of people lining up for it,,, you're on a well maintained track and theres a market for people wanting to pay the premium to go on those tracks... those who arent used to rougher tracks.. coming from aus is a fraction of the price of coming from the northern hemisphere, but the change in hut fees will put it out of the reach of aussies on a budget now whereas it was a good option for a family.. those coming from the northern hemisphere... its probably less of an issue, they had the money to get here they are more likely to have the money for the track.. they get paid better money and those fees arent as steep for them as they are for aussies and NZers, the pricing for foreigners was done to reflect the going rate of similar tracks around the world... DOC had a reasonable idea a lot of people would still pay that price, and they were right... the reality is the great walks in summer are more of an experience now for middle class people. if you are counting your dollars for a summer holiday, you'll have to put a high priority on wanting to do a great walk to want to spend that money.. again, the combination of having to travel to southland and fork out for the higher fees means those great walks are out of reach of the masses, especially those with families... young adults who don't have a lot of financial commitments will still come up with the money a lot more easily than those who have bigger financial commitments like a family and or a mortgage and other assorted modern debts... its a shame because there arent many multi day walks in fiordland that are cheap in summer and relatively easy to do. and the price of everything down there in the holiday season is exhorbitant, accommodation prices double around queenstown.. but its possible to go straight onto one of the tracks with a regular shuttle in summer, avoiding accommodation fees.

totally agree with wayno. Last year I was lucky enough to do the routeburn track on what I believed was a fair price. But If it would've happen this year I don't think I'll do it again...$140 each night is definitely an exaggeration..just not fair at all... I understand that price goes up...but double up is slightly too much for an humble activity like tramping.

Is it not also really a question of how much people should be subsidised? It's one thing to talk about fairness, but comparing these huts with motels, which seems to keep popping up in media, doesn't really make sense. They're huts in remote places which are very expensive to service, and with strong restrictions in law and management plans which caps how much use they're allowed to receive. They cost far more to maintain and retain than a typical motel. Great Walks, as with other back-country spaces, typically don't make back what they cost, or at best they might break even. In the past this has been justified with DOC's recreation responsibilities. That makes some intuitive sense because encouraging recreation, and general interest in nature, amongst residents can result in a healthier population. But in places that are popular with international tourists - notably Milford, Routeburn, Kepler and Abel Tasman where the differential pricing exists - the NZ government has effectively been subsidising people's holidays. It's paying people to come from overseas, to rapidly book out the limited spaces in a way that makes it difficult for local users to get a foot in the door, and then fly back home again. Maybe there's some justification in subsidising tourists. The RNZ article above quotes a Nelson business owner complaining that international visitors now seem to spend less money in town. Even that, though, seems shallow. You could say the same on any occasion when existing businesses lose out to customers choosing to instead spend their money on something new that they really really want even more. If supporting local businesses is what we want, why don't we just give them the money directly?

Great Walks serve their purpose as far as Im concerned. They direct tourists to specified areas. Hence keeping the areas I love walking in, nice and quiet. At the end of the day, thats what Im thankful for. I dont care how much they charge so long as this occurs. Theres no way I would ever want to do a great walk now, Im sure I'd find the experience fairly terrible.

For what it's worth- this is from someone new to tramping and just having been on the Routeburn and Kepler. The price was not a discussion point that I heard from anyone in the huts on my trip - it just didn't seem to be raised at all that I can recall. It was at about the limit I would have paid though, any more and I probably would have not come down from Aus. After doing these two I doubt I will do other Great Walks no matter what the price [less people is a real drawcard for future tramping] - Heaphy is tempting at whatever price but I do not want to EVER share a hut with guided walkers.

Maybe hiking prices would fix the booking system, if DOC doesn't want to reserve some spots, say up to a month in advance for people who actually try to do the Great Walks (e.g. book at least 2 consecutive nights at different huts, crossing over), as opposed to those who just book one hut and then return to the car. The stupid answer I got was "oh, we want to introduce many families with young children to the Great Walks"?!!! Right now you have to book many months in advance to have well spaced huts say on Routeburn and that just doesn't always work for people with regular jobs. Especially when travelling for work as well and vacationing after a conference or such.