Fiordland

An almost fully-booked summer is ahead for Hollyford Wilderness Experience, and with newly-renovated accommodation, back-end investments and a win at the New Zealand Tourism Awards, there is much to get on with.

Summer bookings are coming in thick and fast at Tasman Holiday Park Te Anau – and visitors are already seeing first-hand how the operator is creating a sustainable future for guests – and the business.

A proposal to change recreational fishing rules around the Fiordland Marine Area could include daily limits on many fish species, temporary closure of fisheries, and a change to boundary lines where activities can take place.

Business transformation professional Chris Goddard has been appointed to lead the controversial Milford Opportunities Project through its next chapter of growth.

Fiordland operators have been part of a monumental effort to rid the national park of more than 100,000 invasive weeds.

Fiordland will host the 11th chapter of the GODZone adventure race from 24 February-4 March 2023.

Police have named the man who died last month while on a day tramp near the northern end of the Milford Track.

Great South has approved $142,500 funding for a climbing invitational and a ukulele festival in Te Anau.

A rāhui is in place in the Giant Gate Falls and the Lake Ada area until 17 April.

Fixed wing aircraft may be incompatible with one of the jewels in NZ’s tourism crown, says one of DOC’s leaders.

Occupancy rates in December at accommodation types nationwide improved to 34.2% for the month continuing an uptrend that started last month, according to Accommodation Data Programme (ADP) results.

The Te Anau Tartan Festival 2022 has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 red alert setting.

Milford Sound’s JUCY Cruise has rebranded to Pure Milford and altered its product mix for the recovery.

The Department of Conservation’s Green Lake Hut hut in Fiordland National Park has been named a location of interest after a visit by a Covid case last weekend.

RealNZ is seeking 24 people for a Fiordland cruise that will also see them get involved in the area’s history and conservation.

Great South has allocated more than $550,000 this year from the government’s Regional Event Fund for events in Southland and Fiordland.

The RealNZ Cruise-for-a-Cause raised nearly $30,000 for the Deep Cove Outdoor Education Trust. 

Among the recipients of the Jobs for Nature funding is an operator who has secured $700k for a restoration project.

Milford Sound aviation operators and stakeholders have hit back at calls for the closure of the facility in a document that outlines the case to keep the runway.

The funding will create 15 full-time-equivalent staff over the length of the project, or roughly 50 part-time seasonal positions. 

The Department of Conservation is looking for information about vandalism to huts in the Lake Manapouri area.

The road between Te Anau and Milford Sound/Piopiotahi is closed due to ongoing high avalanche risk.

New business support for tourism operators in five South Island regions can be accessed from this week, with specialist local agencies now appointed to deliver the scheme.

The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa is calling for submissions on place name changes in Fiordland.

Great South has hired former Shotover Canyon Swing boss Stu Cordelle to lead Visit Fiordland.

Visit Fiordland and Visit Southland have formed their own international marketing alliance, to be promoted as ‘Great South’.

Great South has opened applications for round two of its Regional Events Fund

Operators line up to challenge the plan’s recommendations with aviation and cruise at the front of the queue.

About $10m of the latest deployment is going to five regions hit hard by the lack of international tourists.

The Milford Opportunities masterplan project is set to be launched publicly at the Te Anau Club on Wednesday 28 July at 11am.

Australian spend quadrupled in Queenstown and more than doubled in Auckland and Christchurch from April to May.

But the future of Milford’s airfield remains uncertain as stakeholders jockey for the tourism minister’s ear.

More recovery than regenerative, the plan introduces yet another initiative to reimagine tourism.

Hotel guest nights beat holiday parks and campgrounds for the first time in several months.

Parties appear to be working together to avoid conflict, emphasizing process to ensure no surprises.

But areas near urban centres saw strong growth in visitor numbers.

Great South’s regional tourism organisations Visit Southland and Visit Fiordland have launched their latest Southland campaign.

Areas with outsize reliance on international visitors ready to grab Aussie lifeline.

Real Journeys was forced to pause its $1 ‘no joke’ Milford Sound scenic cruise promotion this morning after demand overwhelmed its bookings systems.

Destination Fiordland becomes part of economic development agency Great South from today, 1 April 2021.

Nash says he is “deeply concerned” about the situation unfolding in these five destinations.

The Government must provide targeted support for struggling Fiordland and Glacier Country operators, says the National Party.

Queenstown came in sixth under the Trending Destinations category, while Fiordland came in 10th for National Parks.

Queenstown-based guiding company Ultimate Hikes has raised $125,000 for the Starship Foundation.

But tourism in regions like Hawke’s Bay and Northland has fared better, says the bank.

Fiordland’s Milford Track has fully re-opened today after being damaged by a storm on 4-6 February.

The ongoing closure of the Milford and Routeburn tracks has the Fiordland economy $1m out of pocket, says Destination Fiordland manager Madeleine Peacock. 

Te Anau Bird Sanctuary has welcomed three new kōwhiowhio, or blue duck, ducklings who hatched at the end of October.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will fund the $2m repair of the last 3km of Lower Hollyford Road in Fiordland.

Destination Fiordland has launched its reset for 2021 summer campaign to attract domestic travellers.