Commercial operators in the Abel Tasman National Park are urging tourists to keep visiting the area despite part of the park being shut due to the extreme fire risk.
From Friday, the northern end of the park from Totaranui Road will close until further notice.
The Department of Conservation's acting manager for Golden Bay, Dave Thompson, says vegetation in the northern end of the park is particularly dry and flammable and it is unsafe to keep it open.
Thompson says elsewhere in the park, campsites at Tinline Bay, Mosquito Bay and Te Pukatea have also been closed and there is a total fire ban in the area.
Kelvin Goodman from Abel Tasman Aqua Taxis says he accepts the reasons why part of the popular park will have to shut.
Goodman says he understands the closure is a safety issue but visitors should not be deterred because there is still a lot to see in other parts of the park.
Mike Nesbit from Awaroa Lodge also says visitors should not be put off by the closure but he admits it is going to have a big effect on day-trippers and trampers visiting his lodge.
It is unlikely the northern part of the park will reopen until sufficient rain falls to ease the fire risk and long range forecasts indicate little likelihood of that in the next few weeks.
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