Wandering Albatross chicks on nests on Antipodes Island in the New Zealand sub-Antarctic Islands. Photo: Andris Apse
The cost of visiting the sub-Antarctic islands will significantly increase, as the Department of Conservation proposes hiking its fees for the first time in a decade.
About 1500 tourists visit the islands each year - most of them sailing with one of the six cruise operators who hold permits.
Documents released under the Official Information Act revealed the Visitor Impact Management fee could more than double from $405 (excluding GST) per tourist to just over $1000 by the 2027/28 season.
An independent review of the sub-Antarctic entry permit and concession fees recommended significantly increasing them to recover costs associated with tourism and to reflect market value.
The concession activity fee would also jump from $30 per person to $171 - a more than five-fold increase.
A long-time tourism operator said the increase and timeframe came as a shock. RNZ has approached DOC for comment.
The documents showed the review into two of the five fees paid by concessionaires - expedition operators - was commissioned at the end of last year, with the final report delivered in June.
"The review found the concession activity fee, last reviewed in 2015, was not at market value and that the entry permit VIM fee, last reviewed in 2014, was not appropriately recovering DOC costs for managing cruise ships visiting the islands," DOC said.
"The review recommended DOC markedly increase both fees and DOC approved the recommended increases to fees on 30 June 2025."
DOC said the concession fee contributed to general track and hut maintenance, and pest control, while the VIM went directly into costs related to managing the sub-Antarctic islands.
The report said the average annual cost of managing the islands was about $6.4 million, of which $1.5 million could be recovered by the VIM.
A DOC memo said the updated fees were a "significant increase for tourist operators, so it will be crucial to discuss the new fees further with them".
"Concessionaires have already priced and are advertising trips through to the 2026/27 season."
While operators had been advised of the review in September 2024 - and therefore could have made provisions - it said they may be surprised as "they can't reasonably have predicted the extent of change".
Fees increase shocks operator
Commercial director of long-time operator Heritage Expeditions Aaron Russ said he was concerned about the short-time frame and hoped to have a discussion with DOC before the fees kicked in.
He said the sharpness of the increase was unexpected and he was disappointed that there hadn't been more consultation beforehand.
"It was probably shock in the first instance, the degree of the increases as significant as the immediate nature of the increases. We organise and schedule our voyages 2-3 years in advance.
"DOC's well aware of that scheduling timeframe, so the increases that have come about for the upcoming season are exceptionally short notice."
Russ said the company was upfront with customers about the fees and collected them on DOC's behalf.
He said he wanted to have a meeting with DOC to discuss the changes and better understand where the money was going, before informing clients.
Russ said visitor levies should contribute to New Zealand's conservation, but were only one part of the picture.
In a statement, DOC spokesperson Ruth Isaac said the organisation had recently undertaken a review of its process to allocate entry permits to the Subantarctic Islands, "taking on many of the recommendations of operators to enable the operators to better plan across multiple seasons".
"At the same time, we undertook a review of the fees and operators were informed of this process. It is important to note that fees have not been reviewed in some time, and that these fees directly support crucial conservation work on the islands.
"DOC is responsible for more than 14,000 native species, and we only have 10-30 percent of the funding we need. Ensuring our fees are set appropriately for internationally renowned experiences such as the Subantarctic Islands helps us protect nature. The costs we charge remain a small proportion of the per person ticket prices for a person visiting this amazing environment and are set in line with legislative requirements."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
