The hut division: Kiwis v foreigners

Doubling the price international visitors have to pay for Great Walk huts could taint New Zealand’s image overseas, some Nelson tourism operators fear.

Some operators in the Abel Tasman National Park are also concerned it will put them under more pressure in the peak season, because more visitors will want to take day trips instead of staying overnight.

Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage on Saturday announced the cost of staying at a hut in the Abel Tasman for overseas visitors, including children, will rise to $75 a night from $38 as part of a seven-month trial starting in October. The price for them to stay at Department of Conservation (DOC) campsites will rise from $15 to $30.

Prices will also double for overseas visitors to $140 per night on the Milford Track, and $130 per night on the Kepler and Routeburn tracks.

The new fees are intended to help cover the $3.8 million shortfall in maintaining the Great Walks and their facilities.

Sage said international visitors made up about 60 per cent of all those using the Great Walks. Price rises were not expected to significantly reduce visitors, but could encourage overseas tourists to use less visited Great Walks.

The Abel Tasman is the most frequented of the nine Great Walks, with 300,000 visitors annually. Having separate prices for locals and overseas visitors sends the wrong message, according to one of the park’s main water taxi service providers, Abel Tasman Aquataxi. ‘‘I think people are going to feel like they’re being taken advantage of,’’ owner and commercial director Brendan Alborn said.

‘‘As a visitor to places like Thailand and China over a number of years, I’ve always been quite disgruntled when there’s been a locals and a foreigner so to speak price difference; it can leave a bad taste in the mouth.’’

Hiking prices by 100 per cent didn’t make commercial sense, he said, and would do little to take pressure off visitor numbers in January and February.

The price should be put up for everybody by a lesser amount, he said. But Darryl Wilson, of Wilsons Abel Tasman, doesn’t agree.

‘‘I’ve personally visited a few national parks and attractions and even toilets in the last few weeks ... overseas, and you just pay it because you’ve come that far and you’re not going to quibble over 10, 20, 30 dollars.

‘‘We’re probably as a nation subsidising holidays for people who would be prepared to pay more if they felt they were giving back to the vitality and nature of the experience they were seeking.

‘‘DOC have to find ways of increasing revenue and user pays is one that makes sense.’’

Andrew McFarland, of Kahu Kayaks, is expecting more disgruntled customers.

He is co-director of the company that rents kayaks to people who stay in DOC huts and campsites. ‘‘The tourists have found the huts quite expensive to start off with ... tourists don’t understand the cost for DOC to run it.’’ McFarland expects more people to do day trips, putting more pressure on ferry operators who are already at capacity in peak season.

Spending $150 a night at a hut for two people, might be enough to put some off, Wally Bruce, from Abel Tasman Guides, said.