Reservation system racks up thousands of campground bookings

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This article was published 03/04/2022 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ana Gomes has been trying to book a yurt since she moved to Canada in 2018 but has never been able to. This year she secured one in Tulabi Falls and applauded changes made to the frequently frustrating provincial booking system.

Gomes said the process took 15 minutes, compared to the two hours she waited last year just to come away empty-handed.

The Manitoba government rolled out its updated online booking system for provincial campgrounds on Monday morning.

The province reported 7,392 users logged into the system at 7 a.m. to book cabins, yurts and group areas.

“I know there are challenges to get a virtual line system to work, but I feel the overall process was much better this year,” Gomes said.

Updates to the system addressed technical glitches that caused the site to crash in the past when a large number of people were using it.

With over 5,800 reservations made Monday, 90 per cent of available bookings for cabins and yurts have already been claimed. The high demand left some Manitobans without a spot.

Kay Wetherill and her family often go camping in the summer and reserved a yurt in Bakers Narrows Provincial Park last year.

Wetherill tried to book the same yurt Monday but wasn’t able to find an available slot despite logging into the system right at 7 a.m.

“It was highly disappointing,” she said. “We go with another family and our kids grew up camping together. We’re not going to be able to do that now.”

Wetherill said she saw few changes to the system, but did notice a significant decrease in the wait time while in the queue.

Gomes and Wetherill both expressed the need for more yurts in the province.

“Even if they tripled the number of yurts available, I’m sure they would all go just as quick,” Wetherill said. “The price of a yurt isn’t much higher than a campsite, so most people would say it’s the way to go.”

During question period on Monday, Environment, Climate and Parks Minister Jeff Wharton said bookings for yurts and cabins were up about 300 per cent with the online booking system functioning as expected following recent improvements.

The remarks came in response to questions by NDP critic Lisa Naylor, who pressed the minister on the Tory government’s decision to use a Texas-based firm to process online payments for provincial park passes.

The cost of a single day park pass increased by $4.50 with the introduction of the new system in 2020. The contract cost the province about $565,000 in its first year.

“Manitobans enjoy and will continue to enjoy some of the most reasonable rates across Canada, better yet probably in North America… when it comes to visiting our parks,” Wharton said.

Last week, Wharton told the Free Press further updates will complete a full overhaul of the booking system in 2023.

– with files from Danielle Da Silva

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca