Bookings for Milford Track sell out in 40 minutes
Photo:
Supplied / DoC / Graham Dainty
Demand for the Milford Track remains high, with the Great Walk selling out in just over half an hour today.
The booking system has faced
multiple crashes and false starts over the past two years
, often coinciding with the opening of the popular Great Walk and causing frustration for trampers and tourism businesses.
This prompted the Department of Conservation to
upgrade its website
and add an online queue system to ease the pressure.
Director of heritage and visitors Cat Wilson said the new system coped well.
"Really pleased that people have had a much better experience," she said.
"We had 11,800 people queuing in the lobby at around 9:30 just as bookings opened and they were all into the booking system to make bookings for the 7000 spots on the Milford."
It was all done and dusted in about 40 minutes.
The feedback had been positive and Wilson was thrilled that the bookings were being made in a seamless way.
There have been 23,500 bookings made so far across the Great Walks with the Routeburn and Milford tracks both experiencing high demand.
Cat Wilson encouraged anyone who missed out to keep an eye out for cancellations or check out the other Great Walks on offer.
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