Ben Groundwater is a columnist at Australian publication traveller.com.au.
OPINION: It s never felt particularly crowded to me at Milford Sound. Walking the Milford Track, a 53-kilometre amble through some of New Zealand s most spectacular Fiordland scenery, you don t see all that many people. You meet up with other trampers in the huts at night, you share stories, sometimes share meals, but during the day it s easy enough to avoid the masses out there on the trail, when you re breathing in that beautiful air, taking in those views, soaking up one of the world s great tourism experiences. So it s a little surprising to find that Milford Sound-Piopiotahi has been suffering. Blame all the day-trippers. This is an area of New Zealand that has been hit (pre-Covid at least) by overtourism, with 870,000 annual visitors to an environment of great beauty and fragility – a figure that has more than doubled within a decade. And now, in this new era of travel in which a major reset is
On Friday, the Civil Aviation Authority announced the service would be retained. Manapouri-based pilot Shaun Ferris had been flying into Milford for 22 years and said the airfield flight information service was vital. “You’d be a brave person to say you would be better off without it.” Ferris pilots for Fly Fiordland, who land at the aerodrome about 300 times every year. “I wouldn’t think there would be anyone who would want to see them [information service] go.” Losing it “would have been a step backwards”, he said. The traffic and weather updates, particularly on busy days, were “pretty pivotal” for maintaining a safe environment in Milford, Ferris said.
A long-awaited report on how one of the country s most visited tourist destinations will be managed is due to be released next month and may define its community and the tourism industry.
The masterplan will make Milford Sound Piopiotahi an iconic tourist destination again, Minister of Tourism Stuart Nash says.
Photo: 123rf.com
The Milford Sound Opportunities Project was established in 2017 to create a masterplan for Milford Sound Piopiotahi - which before Covid attracted almost one million visitors a year - as well as the Milford corridor and the region surrounding it.
After several years its masterplan will be released next month, aimed at ensuring Milford Sound Piopiotahi, an Unesco World Heritage site, does not return to its pre-Covid state. It also aims to protect Fiordland National Park.
Friday, 7 May 2021, 12:29 pm
Airways New Zealand today welcomed the Civil
Aviation Authority’s decision that the current Aerodrome
Flight Information Service remain at Milford Sound
Piopiotahi Aerodrome.
In May 2020 Airways
launched a review of the air traffic services it provides at
seven regional airports which had reducing traffic volumes,
including the Milford Sound Piopiotahi Aerodrome.
The
purpose of the review has been twofold: to confirm that the
right level of Air Traffic Control is provided at the
airports, and that appropriate agreements are in place for
funding these services.
Airways CEO Graeme Sumner says
“Our goal has been to make sure that there is an