More than 1000 ideas have been put forward to the Milford Opportunities Project following a call over recent weeks for the general public throughout New Zealand to consider how the visitor experience at Piopiotahi Milford Sound should be managed.

Milford Opportunities is a Governance Group, comprising central and local government agencies, as well as Ngāi Tahu and tourism representatives, to develop a preliminary vision, values and outline a long-term Master Plan.

The governance group’s primary mandate is to future-proof Piopiotahi Milford Sound in order to protect the area’s important conservation values and connect visitors better with New Zealand’s natural, cultural and historic heritage. 

This was reflected in the draft vision: Piopiotahi – New Zealand as it was, forever.

According to the Milford Opportunities Project proposal document, the draft vision is underpinned by ‘pillars’ that support the vision and the proposition to sustain the quality of the place and visitor experience centred around mana whenua values, conservation values, harnessing technology to provide solutions, visitor safety, visitor experience, story-telling and an authentic New Zealand experience. It was hoped the master plan would include creating a slower, more immersive visitor experience along the Milford corridor and at Piopiotahi Milford Sound, with consistent application of stories of the place at stops, which capture, frame and stage highlights to encourage visitors to engage with nature and heritage as well as the landscape

Group independent chairman, Keith Turner, said the project had a budget of $3 million and was initially seed funded with $250,000 in 2017 to scope the mission, stage one, and then later tasked late in 2019 with producing a master plan, stage two, to redesign of the whole visitor experience both at Piopiotahi Milford Sound and along the State Highway 94 corridor between Te Anau and the fiord.

There had been an extensive amount of behind the scenes work already undertaken Dr Turner said, with up to 16 different work streams active in areas such as travel patterns, road use and legislative systems.

Recent surveys (including both public and tourist responses) indicated dissatisfaction with congestion at peak times at Piopiotahi Milford Sound, road safety, aircraft noise and limited infrastructure, including a lack of car parking.

Dr Turner said while the current COVID-19 travel restrictions had slowed the progress of the work particularly during lockdown, there would be little impact on the final outcome.

 “The final master plan was not a short-term plan… the group’s aim was to produce a plan that would stand the test of time”, he said, “up to 100 years”.

A record 946,000 visitors went to Milford Sound Piopiotahi in 2018 compared with 400,000 visitors recorded in 2013.

Last year, prior to Covid-19, tourism growth in the region was forecast to continue, reaching 1.2 million by 2023 and 2 million by 2035.

He said the international travel restrictions may turn out to be opportune timing with fewer people projected to visit the area in the near future, which could allow the implementation of any changes the master plan might require with little disruption.

No final decisions have been mad at this point, Dr Turner said, and nothing would be decided until the analysis of public ideas had been completed and a public discussion document had been made available, which was expected by the middle of 2021.