OPINION: What’s up DOC? Why has the Department of Conservation failed to come to the party and reduce the fees it charges more than 4600 concessionaires in the conservation estate?
Across the heartland, adventure and eco-tourism operators are wrestling with this fees regime at the same time they’re under pressure to make their prices more conducive to the domestic appetite.
To date, DOC hasn’t budged, failing to reduce the arsenal of fees bearing down on operators. I spent last week tripping through our magnificent Mackenzie region, where the tourism scene is doing its damnedest to stir back into life.
The surreal novelty of a crowd-free Tekapo felt like I’d fallen down a rabbit hole to 1985. I savoured the soothing delights of Tekapo Springs, where the hot pools and stargazing tours are operating, largely due to the wage subsidy lifeline.
But the biggest operator in town, the Dark Sky Project, is still hibernating, after swiftly laying off 90 staff during the lockdown – nearly a quarter of the town’s permanent population.
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