Great Walks visitor statistics

July 2008 - June 2009
July 2007 - June 2008
July 2006 - June 2007

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July 2008  - June 2009

The following table shows the number of people who walked the Great Walks during 2008/9. It also shows the number of nights they stayed on the Great Walk tracks.

Data for the Milford, Routeburn, Kepler, Abel Tasman Coast, Lake Waikaremoana and Heaphy Tracks are obtained from the National Visitor Booking System. Data for all other tracks are from locally maintained booking systems. Cancellations are excluded.

Track

Period covered

Independent visitors1

Proportion of independent visitors from New Zealand

Total visitors (independent plus guided)

Independent bednights2

Total bednights2  (independent plus guided)

Abel Tasman Coast

Jul 08- Jun 09

30,847

46%

30,847

60,956

60,956

Heaphy Track

Jul 08- Jun 09

4,992

65%

4,992

16,324

16,324

Milford Track3

Oct 08-Apr 09

7,190

33%

14,4005

21,396

42,8005

Kepler Track

Oct 08-Apr 09

8,684

27%

8,684

20,099

20,099

Rakiura Track4

Jul 08- Jun 09

1,524

28%

1,524

3,097

3,097

Routeburn Track3

Oct 08-Apr 09

12,503

32%

16,3005

24,836

32,4005

Tongariro Northern Circuit

Late Oct 08-early Jun 09

5,5805

40%

5,5805

9,244

9,244

Waikaremoana

Jul 08-Jun 09

5,276

76%

5,276

13,490

13,490

Whanganui Journey

Jul 07-Jun 08

Not available

Not available

Not available

Not available

Not available

Notes.
1. With the exception of Rakiura (see note 3), 'independent visitors' represents the number of individuals staying at least one night who did not walk with a guided group. With the exception of the Milford it does not imply that they walked the entire length of the Walk..
2. ‘Bednights’ is the number of nights spent by visitors in huts or campgrounds on the Walk.
3. Milford and Routeburn revision: guided walker numbers are no longer available and are estimated from previous years’ returns.
4. Circuit walkers only.
5. Estimate

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July 2007 - June 2008

The following table shows the number of people who walked the Great Walks during 2007/8. It also shows the number of nights they stayed on the Great Walk tracks.

Data for the Milford, Routeburn, Kepler, Abel Tasman Coast and Heaphy Tracks are obtained from the National Visitor Booking System. Data for all other tracks are from locally maintained booking systems. Cancellations are excluded.

Track

Period covered

Independent visitors1

Proportion of independent visitors from New Zealand

Total visitors (independent plus guided)

Independent bednights2

Total bednights2  (independent plus guided)

Abel Tasman Coast

Jul 07- Jun 08

29,438

42%

29,438

58 098

58 098

Heaphy Track

Jul 07- Jun 08

4,826

66%

4,826

15 403

15 403

Milford Track3

Oct 07-Apr 08

7,402

34%

14,8005

22 131

44 3005

Kepler Track

Oct 07-Apr 08

8,398

27%

8 398

19 579

19 579

Rakiura Track4

Jul 07- Jun 08

1,508

36%

1 508

3 053

3 053

Routeburn Track3

Oct 07-Apr 08

11,187

28%

14 5005

21 886

28 5005

Tongariro Northern Circuit

Late Oct 07-early Jun 08

5,0605

35%

5 0605

9 290

9 290

Waikaremoana

Jul 07- Jun 08

4,759

74%

4 759

12 581

12 581

Whanganui Journey

Jul 07- Jun 08

4,034

61%

4 034

13 7205

13 7205

Note: Figures for the Routeburn published by Southland Conservancy prior to 2006 only included data for the Southland end of the track.

Notes.

1. With the exception of Rakiura (see note 3), 'independent visitors' represents the number of individuals staying at least one night who did not walk with a guided group. With the exception of the Milford it does not imply that they walked the entire length of the Walk.
2. ‘Bednights’ is the number of nights spent by those individuals in booked huts or campgrounds on the Walk.
3. Provisional.
4. Circuit walkers only.
5. Estimate.

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July 2006 - June 2007

The following table shows the number of people who walked the Great Walks during 2006/7. It also shows the number of nights they stayed on the Great Walk tracks.

Data for the Milford, Routeburn, Kepler, Abel Tasman Coastal and Heaphy are obtained from the National Visitor Booking System. All other tracks are from local records. Cancellations are excluded.

Track Period covered Total visitors1 Total bednights2 Proportion of total visitors who reside in NZ
Abel Tasman Coast Jul 06 - Jun 07 31,106 59,909 39%
Heaphy Track Jul 06 - Jun 07 4,470 14,204 63%
Milford Track Oct 06 - Apr 07 13,809 41,425 32%4
Kepler Track Oct 06 - Apr 07 8,458 19,967 28%
Rakiura Track3 Jul 06 - Jun 07 1,772 3,544 29%
Routeburn Track5 Oct 06 - Apr 07 14,448 28,616 30%4
Tongariro Northern Circuit late Oct 06 - early Jun 07 4,9504 8,610 36%
Waikaremoana Track Jul 06 - Jun 07 5,870 13,815 72%
Whanganui Journey Jul 06 - Jun 07 4,407 Not available 59%

Data revised 19/11/07

Notes.
1. 'Total visitors' represents the number of individuals, independent and guided, who stayed at least one night on these walks. With the exception of the Milford it does not imply that they walked the entire length of the walk.
2. ‘Total bednights’ is the number of nights spent by visitors in booked huts or campgrounds on the walk.
3. Circuit walkers only. The 2006/7 data for total walkers spending at least one night on the track is incomplete, although it is known that there was a total of 4633 bednights booked for the track.
4. Estimate.
5. Previous figures for the Routeburn published by Southland Conservancy only included data for the Southland end of the track.

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