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Provincial website slammed as thousands of Albertans try to book campsites

Click to play video: 'Tens of thousands of provincial campsites reserved in a few hours'
Tens of thousands of provincial campsites reserved in a few hours
Albertans rushed to book provincial campsites on Thursday. As Jayme Doll reports, many struggled to get through – May 14, 2020

Provincial campground bookings opened up Thursday to a storm of interest.

The Alberta government said nearly 32,000 individual campsite reservations were processed by the lunch hour on May 14. All openings begin June 1.

But not everyone was able to get one.

Tina Pearson said she had been trying to book a site in K-Country since midnight.

“Based on the times that they released, I started again at 9:30 this morning,” she said.

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“I can’t even get it to connect and then I tried calling and the lines are busy and say: ‘Try again later,’ and they disconnect you at that’s it.

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“There’s not much we can do. It would just be nice to get the kids out into the Backcountry. We just got a nice lightweight tent, we were hoping to get out there the first of June and get the kids going and excited. My fingers are crossed.”

“This is what summer holidays is going to be a lot this year,” Pearson said.

The province said it processed almost 2,000 Backcountry reservations in addition to the close to 32,000 individual site reservations.

A government spokesperson told Global News there are still spots available and staff are working overtime to meet the high demand.

Pearson said if she doesn’t get through, she’ll have to do it “the old fashion way and camp in her backyard.”

Click to play video: 'Alberta phased relaunch strategy will see some outdoor restrictions eased'
Alberta phased relaunch strategy will see some outdoor restrictions eased

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