Mt Brown hut, Hokitika, West Coast

Archived content: This media release was accurate on the date of publication. 

Introduction

DOC has released the opening dates for next season’s bookings for its huts, campsites and lodges.

Date:  15 March 2022

Bookings for the 2022-23 season will open in the first half of April 2022 and are staggered to give people making multiple bookings a better chance of securing their preferred dates. The season runs from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.

Bookings for South Island huts lodges and most campsites will open on Tuesday 5 April, while those in the North Island will open on Thursday 7 April.

Momorangi Bay Campground in the Marlborough Sounds will open on 12 April, and Totaranui Campsite in Abel Tasman National Park will open on 14 April. Great Walks bookings will open in early May with dates to be released shortly.  

DOC Heritage and Visitors Director, Steve Taylor says he recommends booking early to secure popular dates and times.

As part of DOC’s regular price reviews, there will be some minor changes to campsite fees for the coming year.

“DOC is focussed on ensuring New Zealanders have a wide and accessible range of opportunities to get into nature,” Steve Taylor says. “We provide around 300 bookable and non-bookable campsites that range from free to $25 per person per night.”

“Visitor charges are a way of giving back to nature and mitigating visitor impacts, as well as ensuring the people who use these facilities contribute to the costs of providing them.”

Steve Taylor says DOC has also decided to delay implementing any further use of differential pricing for international visitors beyond the Great Walks.

“Differential pricing can help us manage visitor pressures and ensure New Zealanders can access popular facilities.

“It is already a successful approach on Great Walks, and our preliminary work shows that differential pricing could be applied to other facilities under specific circumstances, such as when there is strong international and domestic demand and the facility is bookable,” Steve Taylor says.

“We will revisit how to best to extend DOC’s use of differential pricing once sufficient numbers of international visitors return.”

Further information

View all price changes for 2022/23

For further information about differential pricing visit Great Walks differential pricing trial.

Contact

For media enquiries contact:

Email: media@doc.govt.nz

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