Milford Great Walk full in record time, 20 per cent overseas bookings

The new Mintaro Hut, on the Milford Track Great Walk booked out in record time. Photo / Thomas Bywater

DoC says international tourists have put their best foot forward after booking opened on the Milford Track yesterday.

One in five bunks on the Great Walk were filled by overseas tourists for the upcoming season.

The four-day, Fiordland hike sold out in record time after going on sale at 9.30am on Tuesday.

"Each year we think the Milford can't sell out any faster and each year we are proven wrong," said DoC's Heritage and Visitors director Tim Bamford.

All bunks were taken in under 3 minutes on the first Great Walk for 2022/23, according to DoC.

"We really sympathise with all those who didn't secure a spot this time. It's a case of demand exceeding supply," said Bamford.

He encouraged hikers to explore the other nine great walks, which begin booking this week.

While high demand was expected, more interesting was the number of bookings made from overseas.

10 per cent of hikers were registered to Australian addresses. The next largest international cohort was made by US citizens at 5 per cent, with a further 5 per cent made up by other nationalities. New Zealanders accounted for 80 per cent of Milford bookings.

The world-famous Milford Track welcomes just over 7,480 hikers during the season from October to April.

The Milford Track is more popular than ever. Photo / Thomas Bywater

Ultimate Hikes which runs private guided huts on the Milford and Routeburn tracks says that demand in the 2022/23 season has been steady since they opened for booking in February.

"Interest from overseas has been increasing following New Zealand border announcements," said Ultimate Hikes's general manager Noel Saxon.

International hikers currently make up 45 per cent of the seasons bookings. The two-third majority of these international guests are coming from Australia.

At $2,495pp the private huts are around seven times the cost of booking the walk through DoC. It's a price point that overseas travellers are willing to pay.

While some of these bookings were postponed from the previous season, after pandemic travel disruption, Saxon says it's clear there is plenty of international appetite for New Zealand walking holidays.