Manitoba aims to improve outdated and much-maligned campsite reservation service

A reservation system that has sparked more anger than campfires could soon be getting a makeover.

The Manitoba government issued a news release on Tuesday saying it is looking for input from campers and provincial park users on ways to improve the booking process in the short term, while also working toward replacing the current outdated system built in 2006.

"We have collected feedback from campers who encountered difficulties making reservations this year and in years past," Conservation and Climate Minister Sarah Guillemard stated in the release.

This past spring saw a record-breaking rushof people tryingto lock up campsites through theParks Reservation Service.

Rather than finding a site, many people found frustration in the form of longwaitslines and technological issues. In some cases, people wereknocked out of their spot in the queue and had to restart, finding themselves thousands of spots back from where they had been.

"The volume of reservations and number of devices trying to access the system at the same time was unprecedented," the province said in abackground documentabout the need for changes.

People are invited to find out more about the process and to fill out an onlinesurveythat the province says is "aimed at guiding the process toward a reliable, convenient and fair reservation system."

The province attributed the "extraordinary uptake" in demand for camping reservations in 2021 to the cancellationor restriction of other recreation and travel options due toCOVID-19.

Prior to the pandemic, the opening day for campsite reservationsaveraged about 9,000 bookings. By contrast, more than13,000 reservations were made on April 5, 2021, resultingin 99 per cent of the cabin and yurt inventory being reserved for the entire camping season.

The aim is to have some temporary fixes in place for the 2022 season and an entirely new system in place for 2023.