New camping reservations will be glitch-free: province

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This article was published 17/02/2023 (1113 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba is launching a new online parks campsite reservation system to replace an older platform that was plagued by technical glitches and complaints from frustrated campers.

The province has hired Camis Inc. of Guelph, Ont., to handle bookings for yurts, cabins and nightly campsites.

The government promised customers will have a smoother experience when the system goes live March 27 for new account creations, a week before the first day of staggered bookings.

“The public should be able to see a marked improvement in the look and feel of the system, and how it responds,” said Elisabeth Ostrop, Manitoba Parks’s manager of recreation and education services.

Camis, which was recently awarded a contract by Parks Canada, will receive a fee per transaction.

Ostrop said the system will use newer software and work better on mobile devices, although the overall experience depends on a user’s device and internet connection.

Campers will have to create a new account, as the current ones will not migrate to the new system.

It has replaced an in-house system that was developed in 2005 and would crash when a high volume of devices tried to log in at the same time on opening days.

In past years, some campers were disappointed after yurts or other preferred sites were snapped up while they waited in long virtual queues.

Different companies handled the previous service’s information technology and maintenance, said Ostrop.

The previous system also charged a fee per transaction.

Last year, the province tweaked the system and staggered bookings to try to cope with demand, while promising to introduce a new service in 2023.

This year’s opening days will be staggered over six days, starting April 3, when all cabins, yurts and group-use areas will be available for bookings.

Reservations for western and northern parks begin April 5, followed by Birds Hill and Winnipeg Beach campgrounds April 11.

Campers can book sites in the south Whiteshell on April 12 and in Nopiming and the north Whiteshell on April 13.

All remaining locations will be available as of April 14.

The province said it will monitor the system and make any necessary improvements.

Campers have until March 24 to log into existing accounts and take down details of previous reservations, including preferred sites.

Ostrop said there is no change in camping fees or the number of sites available this year.

The province has 75 yurts, 34 cabins and 4,500 nightly campsites (about 4,000 are on the online reservation service).

More than 100,000 reservations are made at 46 campgrounds in 28 provincial parks each year, the government said.

Reservations will also be accepted through a call centre managed by Camis for the past two seasons.

“I would rather that stuff be kept in Manitoba,” provincial Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said of the work being given to a private company in Ontario.

Lamont said he hopes Camis’s newer software and upgrades put an end to the kind of technical glitches experienced by Parks Canada customers amid high demand for bookings about three years ago.

Camis, which has also handled parks reservations in other provinces, did not respond to a request for comment.

Eric Reder, the Wilderness Committee’s Manitoba field office director, urged the government to reverse staff cuts, create new parks and add campsites to meet demand, which has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Whatever system they put in place, we’re not growing our parks to the same size as our population,” he said. “We need to fund more ways for people to get into nature.”

Reder opposes the government’s use of private companies to handle reservations and sale of park passes and hunting and fishing licences.

In 2020, Manitoba contracted the Texas-based firm Aspira to sell park permits and licences. The price of permits increased thanks to a $4.50 fee per pass.

A recent sustainability review recommended the province add glamping experiences, hike fees and allow a resort hotel to be built at Grand Beach.

The parks department is considering expanding Wi-Fi service to more campgrounds.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

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