Some Alberta campers say new reservation site is 'a challenge'
Alberta's new camping reservation website had its first real test on Monday morning as thousands of outdoor enthusiasts went online to secure their favourite spots.
Starting at 9 a.m. on Monday, the Alberta government launched its new website that officials said had been redesigned to be more streamlined and user-friendly that the previous version.
Monday's launch opened bookings for individual sites.
However, once the site actually launched, some users said they experienced the same old problems.
"I'm disappointed because of several reasons," Larry Hubick told CTV News in an interview on Monday.
"Booking campsites has always been a challenge for me online. I've never been lucky in pursuing what dates I want."
He says the new website isn't any better.
"I assume they created this site to prevent bots from booking sites but a long weekend is coveted in this province for camping."
Hubick says he was booking a 10-day from May 12 on, which would have included the long weekend.
"I started early enough in the day and by the time I got my site that I wanted and had so as soon as it hit 9 a.m. I clicked 'book,' it thrust me into a waiting queue of three minutes."
As soon as that time elapsed, Hubick says his reservation was gone.
"I had to settle for something else – I did get a 10-day booking, but not including the long weekend."
Meanwhile, other users had similar or entirely different problems with the reservation site on Monday.
While Hubick says the new site was likely built to combat the number of bots designed to snap up campsites, it also makes it difficult to search for what you're looking for.
"It's cumbersome and it's always been a challenge for the last several years to try to get a campsite of your choosing," he said.
"I don't know how the government is going to come up with a way to make it seemingly fair."
Nancy MacDonald, executive director of visitor experience and business with Alberta Parks, is pleased with the website’s performance and considers today a huge success.
“Like any new system there’s things we have to learn and we’ll do post mortems as we go through each of our launch days,” she said. “We’re just so pleased with how the system has functioned and we’ve certainty got lots of feedback from users so far.”
Individual campsites opened at 9 a.m. and according to MacDonald, some 20,657 individual camping nights, or 6,211 reservations, were booked by 11:30 a.m.
“By 9:30 a.m., just about everybody who had wanted to make a reservation was going on with their day, which is really great,” she said.
Tyler Dixon, Alberta Parks ambassador, says once people familiarize themselves with the new site he doesn’t anticipate too many hiccups.
“It does look different and it takes some time to figure out the changes but once you’re in there and you use it I found it quite simple to use,” he said.
Dixon says there are certain sites that will always be hard to secure a site just due to their popularity.
Dinosaur Provincial Park, for example, has 120 sites and was almost immediately booked for the May long weekend but there are 14,000 sites across Alberta’s Park system, 9,000 of which are reservable and 5,000 which are first-come first-serve.
“There is always high demand places and those are always challenging, old site or new site I don’t think it matters.”
Dixon encourages people to familiarize themselves with the new site and be open to trying some place new in the province.
“Going in with a plan, being flexible, maybe looking at midweek if it’s possible for you than weekends which are always busier,” he said.
“There is also a bunch of hidden gems that are out there in the province and if you’re willing to travel a bit further and, like I said, be flexible with some of them it’s worth kind of exploring those comfort zones.”
Group camping bookings go live on the website on Wednesday at 9 a.m.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6958397.1720628836!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Family of 3 killed in tragic collision on B.C. highway, RCMP say
A family of three was killed in a tragic head-on collision with a tractor trailer in B.C.'s Fraser Valley this week, authorities have confirmed. The deceased are two adults and an infant.
Man suspected of killing the family of BBC radio commentator has been found, British police say
British police said they found Wednesday the man suspected of killing the wife and two daughters of a BBC radio commentator near London and that the suspect is receiving medical treatment for his injuries.
Canada's defence spending is 'shameful,' says U.S. Speaker, falling at bottom of the pack at NATO
Since arriving in Washington, D.C. earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced a barrage of criticism about his government’s lack of a plan to meet the NATO pledge of spending two per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
Does tipping culture lead to better service? Here's what experts say
Tipping is meant to empower customers and motivate workers to deliver quality service, but some question whether the prevalent practice actually enhances customers' experience.
WEATHER TRACKER Rainfall, heat, smoke advisories in place across Canada
Large parts of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada are under weather warnings forecasting significant rainfall due to the remnants of Hurricane Beryl, while people in western Canada are experiencing sweltering heat. Some areas are also under air quality advisories as a result of wildfire smoke.
Canada warns of Russian 'bot farm' powered by AI spreading online disinformation
Canadian security officials are warning of a Russian propaganda campaign that is spreading online disinformation on social-media site X.
Jewish community takes food inspection agency to court over slaughter guidelines
A group of agencies that certify Kosher meat are in court today to ask for an injunction against Canadian Food Inspection Agency guidelines for the ritual slaughter of animals.
Renowned artist Alex Janvier, part of Indian Group of Seven, dies at age 89
Renowned artist Alex Janvier has died at the age of 89. Officials at the Assembly of First Nations annual general meeting announced his death and held a moment of silence.
Man stopped at customs with 100 live snakes down his pants
A man was caught trying to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into mainland China by stuffing them into his pants, according to the country's customs authority.