Transport in Milford Sound

Transport in (and to) Milford Sound in New Zealand is characterised by the remoteness of the area in which it is located. As the most popular tourism destination in the South Island it receives very large numbers of visitors. These tend to arrive and depart within just a few hours of each day, as there is little accommodation in the Sound, leading to strong demand peaks for tourism services during the noon and early afternoon hours. Te Anau is known as the gateway to Fiordland, Milford Sound and is the best place to travel from, to get to Milford Sound. The journey from Te Anau is rated as one of the most photographic drives of the world.

To reduce this peaking and to allow further expansion without impacting the environment or reducing tourist amenity, various schemes have been proposed over the years for better links to the Sound, including a new tunnel, a monorail and a gondola lift.

Milford Sound is a fjord in the southwest of the South Island of New Zealand, located in the most remote and least populated region of the country (Fiordland). Divided from more populous areas to the east by the high southern spurs of the Southern Alps, its only entry apart from a difficult (though very scenic) mountain road is a narrow channel to the Tasman Sea, which even famous explorer Captain Cook did not enter during his 1769/1770 journey, as he considered the entry too treacherous and was unaware of the large body of water sheltered behind it.

By virtue of its great natural features, Milford Sound has long since become a major tourist attraction, receiving numbers of visitors unprecedented for such a remote location, over 550,000 per year. This was expected to rise to 750,000 by 2012. The expected rise in numbers did not happen as a result of the recession and other unknown factors. A study has found that of all tourists travelling the South Island of New Zealand in summer, 54% travelled the Milford Road at some point.

Increasing the difficulties for tourism to the Sound is the location within Fiordland National Park, which prevents substantial accommodation from being built - around 90% of all tourists are therefore only on a day trip, and around 80% return in the late afternoon to Te Anau, or Queenstown, a 12-hour round trip. Due to the long trip from Queenstown, a majority of tourists arrive and depart quickly, leading to a great peaking of demand at the day-cruises terminal where the large tourist boats lie empty for most of the day, becoming extremely active only during the 3–4 hours around and past noon.

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