Latest news with #CatWilson
RNZ News
28-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Bookings for Milford Track sell out in 40 minutes
Bookings to take a walk on the Milford Track went off without a hitch today, says DOC. 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. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
23-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
New system to improve wait times
The Kepler Track — Doc has opened bookings for some of the Great Walks tracks. CREDIT: LAURA SMITH (SOUTHLAND EXPRESS) A new Great Walks booking system has reduced waiting time online to a few minutes according to the Department of Conservation. The booking system has been plagued with issues in recent years with system crashes, false starts and booking dates pushed back following high demand and technical glitches. Doc heritage and visitor director Cat Wilson said she was very happy with how the new booking system had performed since it was launched recently. "We've implemented an industry-leading lobby system similar to systems used by concert booking companies to smooth the customer experience and manage very high demand at peak times. "The upgraded booking system and new lobby function worked well on opening day with over 2000 users waiting in the lobby at 9.28am. We had processed 1200 bookings by 10am." About 8300 people were waiting when bookings opened last Thursday morning but that dropped to about 1200 by 10am, she said. "By 12.30pm, 4600 Great Walks bookings had been made and we're expecting bookings will continue to come in throughout the day." Great Walk bookings queue wait-time was also now down to four minutes, she said. Bookings for Tongariro Northern Circuit are on hold while Doc assesses plans for replacing Oturere Hut. Opening dates May 13: Back country huts, lodges, sole occupancy facilities May 15: Heaphy Track, Kepler Track, Rakiura Track, Hump Ridge Track May 20: Conservation campsites, except Tōtaranui, Momorangi, Anaura Bay campsites May 21: Momorangi campsite, Anaura Bay campsite May 22: Whanganui Journey, Routeburn Track, Tongariro Northern Circuit May 27: Lake Waikaremoana Track, Abel Tasman Coast Track, Paparoa Track May 28: Milford Track June 4: Tōtaranui campsite — Toni McDonald
RNZ News
13-05-2025
- RNZ News
Lobby system for Great Walks booking overcoming glitches
The real test for the system will be when the popular Milford Track opens for bookings on 28 May. Photo: Unsplash / Mac Gaither The Department of Conservation (DOC) is confident the glitches that have plagued the Great Walks booking system have been fixed but says it will not be complacent. The booking system has faced multiple crashes and false starts over the past two years, often surrounding the opening of the Milford Track. In 2023, the website crashed when more than 10,000 people tried to book the Milford Track at the same time, forcing DOC to delay the opening of bookings by a few months. Bookings opened on Tuesday for backcountry huts, cabins, lodges and cottages, while Great Walk bookings have been spaced out for the rest of the month. DOC director of heritage and visitors Cat Wilson said there was now a lobby system and the website had been upgraded to improve people's booking experience. "I'm as confident as I can be that those issues have been resolved and we've had a really smooth morning... where we've seen the queuing system in particular work really well," she said. It meant that anyone arriving before the start time would be held and then released into the queue to prevent the website from becoming overloaded. "Experience definitely tells us that we can't be complacent when we open up the Great Walk bookings. We've done a lot of hard work since last year to do everything we can to make the process as smooth and as fair as possible for customers," Wilson said. About 2750 bookings were made on Tuesday morning, but she said the real test would be when the popular Milford Track opened for bookings on 28 May. That was later than usual, as the Milford Track was often one of the first to open to allow people who missed out to have a chance to book another Great Walk instead. "We have made some quite significant changes to our booking system so we did really want to test those on some of the lower volume walks and huts," Wilson said. She encouraged people to be ready and get there on time if they wanted a spot, but also to check for cancellations if they missed out. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
