Tourist numbers drop at New Zealand walking tracks
Tourist numbers drop at New Zealand walking tracks Thu, 31 Dec 2020, 3:36PM
Visitor numbers are down 52 per cent for the Hooker Valley Track in the Aoraki National Park. Photo / 123RF
Tourist numbers drop at New Zealand walking tracks Thu, 31 Dec 2020, 3:36PM
Some of New Zealand s most popular walking tracks have had a huge decline in visitor numbers.
Data from the Department of Conservation compared visitor numbers over September and October this year to the same time last year.
Milford Sound was down 72 per cent, Franz Josef Glacier down 66 per cent and Hooker Valley Track down 52 per cent.
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The Guardian, AUCKLAND, New Zealand
The head of the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) has called on locals to show greater respect for their environment amid a boom in domestic tourism that has been accompanied by reports of littering, human waste and wildlife disturbance.
Restrictions on international travel due to COVID-19 have forced New Zealanders to holiday at home, with government data showing some holiday spots are busier than they were before the pandemic, despite the absence of tourists from overseas.
With New Zealand’s border closed to nearly all foreign arrivals since April, sites and attractions typically popular with first-time visitors such as Franz Josef Glacier and Milford Sound have recorded a huge decline in visitors, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reports.
More New Zealanders are getting into the great outdoors this summer than ever before, with campers and hikers making a beeline for the Abel Tasman National Park.
The upper South Island, site of the Abel Tasman National Park, is extremely busy, DOC says.
Photo: RNZ / Tracy Neal
Data from the Department of Conservation shows some regions are busier than they were before Covid-19.
DOC s director-general, Lou Sanson, said places within three hours drive of major population centres were experiencing high visitor growth, despite no international tourists.
Northland, Coromandel and the upper South Island were especially busy.
Tōtaranui in the Abel Tasman National Park was the country s most popular campsite, with more than 42,000 bed nights booked between the start of December and the end of February.
Wednesday, 23 December, 2020 - 10:34
COVID-19 has impacted visitor patterns across conservation areas but all indications point to more New Zealanders getting into their great outdoors this summer than ever before, Department of Conservation (DOC) data shows. DOC’s Director-General, Lou Sanson says many New Zealanders are looking to nature for escape and relaxation during these unprecedented times. As we say goodbye to 2020, DOC is working to ensure everyone can have fantastic and restorative experiences outdoors over the summer and asks that people ensure they are also putting in the effort to prepare well for their trips, visit respectfully and keep themselves and their families safe. Some regions are busier than before COVID-19-notably those within three hours’ drive of major population centres. Some places, such as Northland and Coromandel, are experiencing high visitor growth despite no international visitors.