MILFORD OPPORTUNITIES PROJECT Tourism Report 10 March 2021

Visitor Solutions Ltd and Fresh Info Ltd

TOURISM REPORT | PROJECT BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 1 FINAL

Report prepared by:

Craig Jones, Gordon Cessford, Shane Vuletich and Alex Beer Visitor Solutions Ltd and Fresh Info Ltd

For Boffa Miskell and Stantec

Document Quality Assurance

Bibliographic reference for citation: 2021. Visitor Solutions Ltd & Fresh Info Ltd 2021. Milford Opportunities project: Tourism Report. Prepared by Visitor Solutions Ltd & Fresh Info Ltd and Fresh Info Ltd for Milford Opportunities Project.

Prepared by: Craig Jones, Gordon Cessford, Shane Vuletich & Alex Beer

Visitor Solutions Ltd & Fresh Info Ltd

Reviewed by: Craig Jones & Shane Vuletich Visitor Solutions Ltd & Fresh Info Ltd

Status: Final Revision / version: 7 Issue date: 10 March 2021 3 February 2021

Template revision: 20200422 0000

File ref: Tourism Report.docx

© Visitor Solutions Ltd & Fresh Info Ltd 2021

MILFORD OPPORTUNITIES PROJECT : TOURISM REPORT

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CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

1 PROJECT BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 11 PROJECT AMBITION 11 PROJECT PILLARS 11 PROJECT OBJECTIVES 12 NATURAL DISASTERS AND COVID-19 IMPACTS 13 WORKSTREAM OBJECTIVES 13 SCOPE OF WORK 14 CONNECTION TO PILLARS 16

2 BASELINE: CURRENT STATE 17 VISITOR NUMBERS 17 TEMPORAL SPREAD OF VISITORS 19 TRAVEL PATTERNS 20 BOAT CRUISE CAPACITY AND UTILISATION 26 ECONOMIC FOOTPRINT 29

3 RECREATIONAL USE 35 ACTIVITY TYPES AND SCALE 35 DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION CONCESSIONS 35 DOC CAMPSITE DEMAND 44 DOC VISITOR ACTIVITY COUNTERS 46

4 VISITORS, EXPERIENCES AND EVALUATIONS 57 REVIEW OF RESEARCH REPORTS – KEY POINTS 57 ANALYSIS OF VISITOR EXPERIENCE REVIEWS – KEY POINTS 60

5 UNDERSTANDING COMMERCIAL OPERATOR AND RECREATIONIST PERCEPTIONS 69 OPERATORS 69 RECREATIONISTS 71

6 JOURNEY MAPPING AND VISITOR PERSONAS 73 JOURNEY MAPS 73 VISITOR PERSONAS 78 WORKING VISITOR TYPOLOGY 87

7 SHORTLIST OPTIONS 94

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INTRODUCTION 94 SHORTLISTING PROCESS 94 SUMMARY SHORTLIST OPTION DESCRIPTIONS 95 SHORTLIST – OPTION DETAILS 99 SHORTLIST – POTENTIAL IMPACTS 112

8 COMMENTS ON SPECIFIC SHORTLIST OPTIONS 121 VISITOR CAP 121 RESIDENT ACCOMMODATION 121 AERODROME 124 CRUISE SHIPS 126

9 RECOMMENDED OPTION 132 INTRODUCTION 132 GENERAL NETWORK ISSUES 132 AND SURROUNDS 135 THE CORRIDOR 136 PIOPIOTAHI 138

10 COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS 140 BACKGROUND 140 CBA METHODOLOGY 143 LONG-TERM DEMAND PROJECTIONS 144 THE IMPACT OF ACCESS PRICING ON DEMAND 146 COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS 148

11 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 155

12 REFERENCES 156

13 APPENDICES ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 1: VISITOR MONITORING PLAN 159 APPENDIX 2: VISITOR NATIONALITY PROFILES 184 APPENDIX 3: LONG LIST 204 APPENDIX 4: CBA INPUTS 245

TABLES

Table 1: Inbound vehicle and passenger no’s, , 2019 . 21 Table 2: No. of passenger seats at MFN, 2019 ...... 23

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Table 3: Shares of passenger seats at MFN, 2019 ...... 23 Table 4: Recreation concessions – numbers and types ...... 38 Table 5: Infrastructure Concessions – Numbers and types ...... 38 Table 6: Milford Sound Recreation Concession Sites ...... 40 Table 7: Milford Road Corridor Recreation Concession Sites ...... 40 Table 8: Wider Te Anau/Manapouri Recreation Concession Sites .... 42 Table 9: Infrastructure Concession sites ...... 44 Table 10: Bed night growth – different DOC campsites ...... 44 Table 11: DOC campsites – Milford Corridor ...... 46 Table 12: DOC Visitor Activity Counter Records (10yr) ...... 56 Table 13: Reviews Summary – of multiple sites/experiences ...... 61 Table 14: Milford transport modes – review respondents ...... 62 Table 15: Overall online review rating scores ...... 63 Table 16: Overall positive online reviews ...... 63 Table 17: Overall positive visit recommendations ...... 64 Table 18: In-depth Reviews – Coded Summary Themes (count of mentions and positive / negative status) ...... 66 Table 19: Broad Visitor Group Typology ...... 88 Table 20: Summary Visitor Group Typology Features (derived from still active categories / terminologies first defined in the Department of Conservation Visitor Strategy, 1996) ...... 90 Table 21: Shortlist – Recreation / Tourism Development Options ..... 100 Table 22: Shortlist – Impacts: Recreationists / Visitors / Operators ... 112 Table 23: Resident Accommodation Preliminary Estimates ...... 123 Table 24: Coach System Capacity and Associated Data ...... 133

FIGURES

Figure 1: Visitor no’s to Milford by year ...... 17 Figure 2: Int. visitors to Milford vs holiday visitors to NZ ...... 18 Figure 3: Actual and projected visitors to Milford ...... 18 Figure 4: Share of Int. visitors to named attractions ...... 19 Figure 5: Av. daily visitors to Milford/month ...... 19 Figure 6: Av. hourly vehicle to/from Milford, Feb 2019 ...... 20 Figure 7: Av. no. vehicles in Milford/hour, Feb 2019 ...... 20 Figure 8: Mode of transport used to access Milford ...... 21 Figure 9: Av. daily inbound vehicles at Homer Tunnel ...... 22 Figure 10: Monthly inbound vehicles vs visitors ...... 22

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Figure 11: Annual passenger seats into MFN 2008-2019 ...... 23 Figure 12: Av. daily landings at MFN by year ...... 24 Figure 13: Av. daily landings at MFN/month 2007-2019 ...... 24 Figure 14: Av. daily landings at MFN/month in 2019 ...... 25 Figure 15: Share of int. visitors to Milford by type ...... 25 Figure 16: Where int. visitors to Milford stay overnight locally ...... 26 Figure 17: Proportion of int. visitors also visiting Milford, Feb 2019 ...... 26 Figure 18: Av. daily boat cruise departures/hr, 2018/19 ...... 27 Figure 19: Av. daily boat cruise departures/15mins, 2018/19 ...... 27 Figure 20: Av. daily boat cruise capacity/hr, 2018/19 ...... 28 Figure 21: Av. daily boat cruise capacity/15mins, 2018/19 ...... 28 Figure 22: Boat cruise capacity utilisation, 2018/19 ...... 29 Figure 23: visitor economy size, 2019 ...... 29 Figure 24: Av annual visitor no’s to Milford, 2014-19 ...... 30 Figure 25: Av. nights in NZ - visitors to Milford, 2014-19...... 30 Figure 26: Av. spend/night in NZ - visitors to Milford, 2014-19 ...... 31 Figure 27: Age group - visitors to Milford, 2014-19 ...... 31 Figure 28: Gender - visitors to Milford, 2014-19 ...... 32 Figure 29: Purpose of NZ travel - visitors to Milford, 2014-19 ...... 32 Figure 30: NZ travel style - visitors to Milford, 2014-19 ...... 33 Figure 31: Int. port of entry - visitors to Milford, 2014-19 ...... 33 Figure 32:Travel party composition - visitors to Milford, 2014-19 ...... 34 Figure 33: Bed night growth – different DOC Campsites ...... 45 Figure 34: Annual bed night growth – total DOC Campsites ...... 45 Figure 35: DOC Counter records (10yrs): Key Summit ...... 48 Figure 36: Daily Visitor Activity Counts/hr: Key Summit ...... 49 Figure 37: DOC Counter records (10yrs): Gertrude Valley ...... 49 Figure 38: Av. Daily Visitor Activity Counts/hr: Gertrude Valley ...... 50 Figure 39: Av. DOC Counter records (10yrs): Lake Marian ...... 51 Figure 40: Av. Daily Visitor Activity Counts/hr: Lake Marian ...... 51 Figure 41: DOC Counter records (10yrs): Te Anau VC (DOC) ...... 52 Figure 42: Av. Daily Visitor Activity Counts/hr: Te Anau VC (DOC) .... 52 Figure 43: DOC Counter records (10yrs): Brod Bay/Kepler/Waiau .... 53 Figure 44: Av. Daily Visitor Activity Counts/hr: Brod Bay ...... 53 Figure 45: DOC Counter records (10yrs): Southern Scenic Route ...... 54 Figure 46: Milford transport modes – review respondents ...... 63 Figure 47: Recreationists – Hypothetical Journey Map...... 75

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