Following a
proposal that would double the entry fees for some national parks and increase
fees for commercial tour operators, the International Inbound Travel
Association (IITA) said that the price hikes could have serious consequences
for inbound operators.
Under the proposal,
the National Park Service (NPS) would implement a five-month peak-season
entrance fee at 17 national parks -- Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Denali,
Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Olympic, Sequoia & Kings Canyon,
Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion National Parks with peak season starting on May
1, 2018; in Acadia, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, and Shenandoah National
Parks with peak season starting on June 1, 2018; and in Joshua Tree National
Park as soon as practicable in 2018.
During the peak
season, the entrance fee at each park would be $70 per non-commercial vehicle
(up from the current fee of $30), $50 per motorcycle (up from $25), and $30 per
person on bike or foot (up from $15). A park-specific annual pass for any of
the 17 parks would be available for $75, which also represents an increase with
annual passes currently ranging from between $30 and $60.
The cost of the
annual America the Beautiful--The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands
Pass, which provides entrance to all the parks for a one-year period, would
remain $80.
Not all national
parks charge an entrance fee. Of the 417 national park sites, 118 charge an
entrance fee.
Entrance fees are
also not charged to visitors under 16 years of age or those who hold a senior,
military, access, volunteer, or Every Kid in a Park (EKIP) pass.
The NPS proposed
the new fee structure in late October and said it was proposed to help pay for
a maintenance backlog at the parks, including aging roads, bridges,
campgrounds, waterlines, bathrooms, and other visitor services.
If implemented, the
NPS stated that the new price structure could increase national park revenue by
$70 million per year, or 34% more than the $200 million that was collected in
fiscal 2016. Eighty percent of the entrance fees remain in the park where they
are collected, and the other 20% is spent on projects throughout the national
park network.
Lisa Simon, IITA
executive director, stated that her organization supports the necessary funding
of operations, programming and upkeep of the national parks. But, she said that
the new proposal could raise fees as much as 600% for a single motorcoach tour
group, which could force some inbound tour operators to stop including national
parks in their tour packages because they would become cost prohibitive.
The proposed
changes include a commercial tour fee structure that would require three
separate fees from the tour company: a Commercial Use Authorization (CUA) fee,
a management fee, and the per-vehicle commercial entrance fee.
A public comment
period on the new fee structure is open through Nov. 23.