The Milford Opportunities project is continuing to consult with people in various sectors who live and work around the Milford area.
The project was set up a couple of years ago to explore options on how to carry out tourism differently at Milford Sound and in the Milford road corridor.
The project will produce a report to Cabinet some time next year and the sitting government will make the final decision on changes to the area.
Changes proposed include banning cruise ships in Milford Sound, getting rid of the airstrip and charging international visitors to visit the sound. Banning private vehicle access to Milford Sound through a permit and public transport system is also being considered.
Project staff have been talking to various sectors involved in the Milford Sound area. The latest sector were bus drivers, who drive on the road daily, ferrying tourists along the Milford road.
The numbers going to Milford Sound have jumped markedly in the past 10 years, although there was a drop during the Covid-19 pandemic.
There were 870,000 visitors to Milford Sound in 2019, nearly 2400 a day.
That had led to many issues and bus drivers were saying they were not being listened to.
The responses were reported in the Opportunities project’s latest newsletter.
In a summary of the meeting with drivers, the drivers said there had been many changes to the road over the past years.
"There was no consultation with the placement of road barriers — they’re useless because they’re in the wrong place. They put them where cars don’t run off the road," a driver said.
Proper road barriers needed to be built, in the right place, and there was a need to stop tourists doing the Milford trip and back in one day from Queenstown, drivers said. Queenstown trips were putting pressure on drivers to get to the sound by noon to catch a cruise.
There was also a criticism of government agencies which worked on the road — Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and the Department of Conservation.
"Agencies must work together in co-ordinated consistent way — we can’t have different agencies making independent decisions."
The journey along the Milford road to Milford needed to be slowed down.
There was a need to "slow the journey down to experience the sequence, visual, emotional, environmental".
"Different visitors have different experiences. It changed once they put in cellphone reception. People are on their phones and distracted, missing the beauty out the window. Phones contribute to driver distractions, running late for boats."
The road and Milford Sound could not be separated.
"When you start the journey from Queenstown — people are just focused on getting to Milford by a given time to make a cruise. That’s where a lot of things start going wrong for people.
"That is not the best experience. It’s a long trip that turns back around 3.30pm. People sleep all the way back to Queenstown. It is brutal and doesn’t do the road justice."
The area was also overcrowded.
"There are too many people at the same places at the same time."
One driver suggested increasing the price of cruises in the middle of the day, which may lead to tourists picking tours at different times of the day.
Consultation with other groups is continuing.
— Staff reporter
