Great Walks boost
The rush to claim spots in huts on New Zealand's Great Walks saw 140,000 bed-nights booked on the days their booking opened.
That's 10,000 more bed-nights than last year, netting more than $9 million for the Department of Conservation. Booking for the huts on the nine Great Walks opened on different days in May.
So far, 20,910 people have booked beds in huts on the Routeburn near Queenstown, including 6,674 overseas visitors. Some 23,094 people are booked to stay in huts on the Kepler Track, including 6,336 overseas visitors, while 21,903 are booked on the Milford Track, including 8,537 visitors.
Greenstone Hut, serving the Greenstone and Caples Tracks, remains among the 10 most popular, along with McKellar Hut on the Greenstone, and Aspiring hut in Mount Aspiring National Park.
Conservation-related tourism is worth around $3.4 billion a year. In 2024 nearly three-quarters of international visitors said they did a hike, walk or tramp while in Aotearoa New Zealand, and around half visited a National Park.
“This is great for local businesses, local jobs and incomes," Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. "Before and after their walk they stay, eat and adventure locally, injecting money into local economies."
