These adjustments to entry and permit fees—including CUA application and management fees—will have a serious impact on the many NTA tour companies that package the parks and on area concessionaires.
NTA President Pam Inman immediately contacted NPS officials to express concerns. And to amplify NTA’s voice, Inman organized a coalition of industry associations, which collaborated on a Nov. 13 letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Here are excerpts from that letter:
The travel and tourism industry, which includes a range of organizations that represent the business interests of commercial tour operators and motorcoach travel, is concerned about the U.S. National Park Service’s recent proposal to increase fee schedules, mandate commercial use authorization permits and establish seasonal peak pricing on commercial entry fees at 17 national parks.
We recognize the need to maintain and improve America’s national parks. However, we believe the NPS goals can be achieved through more thoughtful measures that will not jeopardize the role the travel and tourism industry plays in promoting the enjoyment of our national parks and creating jobs. We want to work with your department to enhance the experiences these treasures offer travelers. As a starting point, we need to consider how best to meet the objectives, in terms of setting reasonable price increases and, specifically, the timing of any sort of increase.
National parks are among America’s top destinations, and our industry has consistently advocated for park funding. While we recognize that additional fees are needed to preserve our nation’s natural treasures, we are concerned the lack of a more staged implementation period to fairly and equitably implement the fee increase into tour packages will be burdensome on users of the parks and tour companies.
Our organizations help to ensure that the movement of people through our parks is as efficient as possible. For example, just one bus can take up to 55 cars off the road, providing congestion [reduction] and environmental benefits to all park users. Commercial buses and tour groups are critical to the economic health of the NPS. In FY 2012, commercial bus fees were the third highest revenue-related source for the parks. That standing only has increased in recent years behind record-breaking visits from the travel and tourism industry, due in part to the support from the listed associations.
The associations represented on this letter have had a longstanding agreement with the NPS that we would be notified 18 months ahead of any entrance-fee increases to enable pricing adjustments. This is critical for our members and their customers, as many companies book tour groups months, if not years, in advance. With the recent announcement, we are concerned about how this will impact not only our tour companies and their customers, but also the area concessionaires and the local destination attractions that serve these visitors near the parks.
Last year the NPS recorded a whopping 330 million recreational visits, up significantly from what had been a record-breaking 307 million visits in 2015. If the currently proposed fee increases are implemented, those record numbers will not continue to climb.
The solution to our great parks’ needs cannot and should not be shouldered by its visitors—we can fix this together. As you know, these issues are very important to our organizations, and we would very much like to further discuss these contemplated policy changes. We look forward to working with you and your team in the near future.
Voices of concern
These are the travel industry associations that joined to register concern about proposed adjustments to U.S. National Park Service entry and permit fees:
American Bus Association, International Inbound Travel Association, International Motorcoach Group, National Tour Association, Ontario Motor Coach Association, Student & Youth Travel Association, United Motorcoach Association, United States Tour Operators Association
To read the Oct. 24 announcement about proposed fee increases, see the news release on the NPS website:
Comments count
Due in part to the urging of NTA and other industry associations—and also to the 100,000-plus comments that citizens submitted to the National Park Service website—NPS extended the comment period by several weeks, ending in late December. However, NTA is continuing to collect reactions and opinions from members, who can email their concerns to Executive Vice President Catherine Prather.
Top photo by Michael Quinn/National Park Service
