Fiordland

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.

Feedback was required on possible options and ideas for the sound, the road leading into it and Te Anau and the surrounding regions.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has confirmed the first 11km section of the flood-damaged Lower Hollyford Road in Fiordland will be repaired, at a cost of $400,000.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said the avalanche risk was assessed as high.

The initiative would see locals provided something free of charge if they brought full paying out-of-towners to a local business.

Businesses in the West Coast and Southland are set to benefit from upgraded communication services with new funding from the Provincial Growth Fund.

The Govt is investing the cash in Fiordland’s Homer Tunnel, an Arrowtown museum, and a Balclutha hub.

Great South and Destination Fiordland have launched the third phase of their Rediscover Southland campaign with a range of deals to encourage Southland visitation.

Public feedback is being sought on the future of Milford Sound Piopiotahi and its surrounding regions.

Ngāi Tahu Tourism’s three-day wilderness experience on the Hollyford Track in Fiordland will reopen in January 2021.

Ultimate Hikes will open for the season on the 17 December and run through until 5 April 2021.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will close Homer Tunnel for road resurfacing following Queen’s Birthday weekend.

An increase in daily convoys into Milford Sound and night-time public access are two measures being proposed to widen access to the popular destination.

Convoys in and out of Milford Sound Piopiotahi are set to be ongoing as work continues on repairing the road following adverse weather that closed the highway in February.

Convoys of buses for visitors and essential services vehicles to Milford Sound Piopiotahi are continuing this week, with a small change in frequency and timing from Thursday.

The first convoys, including visitor buses into Milford Sound Piopiotahi since the torrential rain of just over a fortnight ago, have gone smoothly.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is reconnecting Milford Sound Piopiotahi for tourist bus travellers alongside essential service vehicles from this Friday.

Road damage affecting access and the coronavirus outbreak have taken a toll.

The first convoy of essential services vehicles and material went in and out of Milford Sound Piopiotahi, on Saturday, two weeks after torrential rain closed the highway.

The Department of Conservation has missed out on around $1.47m from cancelled bookings on its temporarily closed Milford and Routeburn tracks but many trampers have opted for other Great Walks.

A four-wheel drive route into Milford Sound Piopiotahi is now available for emergency services, and essential services convoys are planned to start this weekend.

The Southland Mayoral Relief Fund is available to help Southlanders and businesses affected by the February 3 floods.

Good progress building a four-wheel drive, single lane route into Milford Sound Piopiotahi has been made in the past few days of sunshine

The Milford road remains cut off but others are reopening across the region, says Emergency Management Southland.

Real Journeys is resuming its Milford Sound cruises today and will increase its customer capacity in Doubtful Sound.

Dozens are airlifted from Fiordland National Park after a landslide crashes into a hut.

Helicopter evacuations of tourists, massive road destruction and slips have taken place in the Milford Sound area where a “red” state of emergency remains in force due to the record deluge of rain.

Police and members of the Alpine Rescue Team recovered the bodies of two male climbers from Fiordland National Park on Friday.

Great South will become the third regional development agency to shift away from destination marketing to a destination management strategy, as it looks to improve visitor growth and encourage stronger visitor spend.

The GM of sales and marketing on competition, the value of partnerships, and the increasing importance of OTAs.

Real Journeys is taking applications for its Cruise-for-a-Cause fundraiser for 2020.

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One of the most iconic landscapes on the planet must move up the value chain as visitor numbers boom, says DOC’s director-general.

Milford Sound visitor numbers grew 2.14% to 882,296 in the year to March 2019, according to Milford Sound Tourism.

A compliance sweep found a quarter of all activities in breach or operating illegally.

NZers have “come back onto our tracks in droves” after overseas visitor fees were hiked, says DOC’s director general.

Southern Discoveries has today unveiled plans for the conversion on its Spirit of Queenstown catamaran into an amphibious vehicle for a new twin lakes cruise product.