Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park feeling the pressure of more than 1 million tourists
Friday, 1 March 2019
The jaw-dropping views of Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park are now attracting more than 1 million visitors per year. But the explosion in visitor numbers is putting severe strains on the alpine environment and services in the town, and leading to warnings it could become 'another Queenstown', reports MATTHEW LITTLEWOOD.
Aoraki/Mt Cook village, population approximately 250, lies at the end of State Highway 80, along one of the most scenic roads in the South Island.
Long known to New Zealanders as an adventure playground and gateway to our famous highest peak, an influx of overseas tourists will likely see the total visitor numbers surpass 1 million this year - around double the number three years ago.
'The genie's been let out of the bottle,' says Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park operations manager Brent Swanson.
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'Thanks to social media, everyone's wanting to get that perfect snap of Aoraki/Mt Cook.'
With increasing pressures on the park, there are proposals in the offing to limit visitor numbers, including creating a park and ride, which would see visitors to Aoraki/Mt Cook stopped 11 kilometres from the village.
Other measures being looked at include a booking system, while a park entrance fee has also been suggested, but there are disagreements between the park's guardians over whether these should apply to everyone, or just overseas guests.
At the moment, Swanson says they are 'coping' with the number of visitors.
Jacob Fleming is one of the Department of Conservation's new storytelling rangers at the park, a role set up to better inform people about the history.
'The shoulder period has pretty much disappeared, so it's peak all the time,' says Fleming. 'But at the same time, it also means more people are enjoying and learning about the park, so that's also a good thing.'
Federated Mountain Clubs president Peter Wilson believes it is time for DoC to seriously consider limits on the national parks, or a booking system for overseas guests.
'We cannot be all things to all people,' he says.
'We've got a National Park where everyone wants to go, and in the process of everyone going to the park, the experience is diminished for everyone.'
However, Wilson would not like to see New Zealanders become subjects to limits, nor did he approve of ACT Party leader David Seymour's idea to charge people to enter.
'There is an obsession in New Zealand that price mechanisms solve problems. We're dealing with a supply situation, booking mechanisms solve problems.'
David Higgins, a Ngai Tahu leader in the area, says there is a danger the tiny mountain resort town could become the next Queenstown.
'Tourism NZ has been encouraging lots of people to come to the country without necessarily having the infrastructure in place,' he says, adding that it is difficult to manage tourism numbers.
He says most New Zealanders understand the spiritual connection Maori have to the mountains.
'Our Aoraki is our ancestor that we all relate to. It's an iconic mountain for us, he's a living god who sees over everything.'
Meanwhile, DOC even has a 'local body' team who take care of core functions such as waste management in the town, whose population swells over summer.
The local body team is responsible for dealing with the 400kg a day of food waste that goes through the park, and the four tonne a month of cardboard and paper waste.
Swanson expects those numbers to grow. This will place pressure on infrastructure such as carparks and toilets, both of which Swanson admits they will need more of.
'We're a unique place in that there's 100 per cent employment, so everyone contributes to the place in some form.
'There's a lot of stuff behind the scenes that people don't tend to see that keeps the place moving,' Swanson says.