Message From The General Manager

Laura Chastain

Today the Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce submitted our Official Comments regarding the proposed fee changes.  The deadline for comments on the NPS fee changes is fast approaching on December 22nd.  We would like to encourage all businesses and individuals to submit your comments through the official NPS channel either on-line or in writing.  The Chambers official comments are below.

Here are the links of proposed changes for your review and comments: 

Public comments on the proposed seasonal entry fees for visitors will be accepted October 24, 2017 to December 22, 2017 on the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/proposedpeakseasonfeerates.

Public comments on the proposed CUA requirements, CUA fees, and commercial entrance fees will be accepted October 24, 2017 to December 22, 2017 on the NPS PEPC website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/commercialtourrequirements.

Written comments for both proposals may be mailed to: National Park Service, Recreation Fee Program, 1849 C Street NW, Mail Stop 2346, Washington, DC 20240

The Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce has submitted the following comments on behalf of our members:

?CUA Fee Increase

Grand Canyon Chamber Official Comment

December 14, 2017

Dear National Park Service –

The Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau would like to comment on the proposed CUA Fee increase.

The Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce represents 71 businesses that operate in the Grand Canyon National Park Area.  We are all concerned with the impact the fees will have on the local businesses and economy.

You are proposing a fee increase of 665% for some operators.  This will effectively put them out of business as there is no way they can successfully pass those fees on to their customers.

Here is one example:

Local Van Tour Company:

6400 passengers in 2016

• $51,000 in entrance fees
• $175 application fee

New proposed Fees:

• $361,000 in entrance fees
• $600 application fee
• $30,000 year end fee

Percentage increase:

• New rate $391,000
• Previous rate: $51,175
• Difference: $340, 425
• $340,425/ $51,175 = 6.6521
• 6521/100 = 665.21%

 We would like to point out:

• You have never proposed a 665.21% increase in fees in the past
• The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004 shows you have failed to provide any data to support the criteria that you must consider the “aggregate effect of recreation fees on recreation users” or “the public policy or management objectives served by the recreation fee.”

We have conducted a survey of our members to see how they think visitors will respond to the proposed changes.

• 89% surveyed feel the increase of fees will have a significant negative affect on visitation
• 35% feel it will completely deter them from visiting all together
• 78% surveyed feel if they have to drastically increase their fees that they will greatly reduce the number of tours they conduct.
• We also asked the tour operators if they felt the 18 month implementation you proposed was enough time to implement and 78% agreed that it was.
• 67% surveyed felt annual reporting was fine but that there should be no monthly reporting.

Here are some of their specific comments:

• “We currently pay $8 pp, now it will be a per vehicle charge. With our pax loads, this is a 688% increase in fees. We will have to increase prices to absorb the fee increase, but It will have a negative impact on our tour numbers it will make the tour cost too expensive for most of our customers.”
• “Add 5% or 10% but what’s being proposed is crazy - tours bring people to the area and reduce cars – it’s not just about the park it’s about the local community and economy that supports the park – it’s also crazy amount of taxes upon more taxes - a huge proportion of the economy is based on small businesses - and that’s who is going to be impacted.”
• “Groups are good for the national parks. They bring a lot of people in at once and eliminate many vehicles. They generally have a professional tour guide who is trained to make sure their guests are respectful of the park rules and also not leave a footprint. They can only visit the view overlooks assigned on the CUA, so also help keep the other viewpoints less crowded.”
• “Many seniors would not be able to enjoy the national parks on their own. The group tour operators offer a well thought out itinerary and a safe and memorable experience for their guests.”
• “I'll start off with the fact that I am a group coordinator for the South Rim. I have personally been told by major tour companies that if the CUA rate was to increase they would reduce their tour groups to the GC by almost half. I have also talked to locals in our area and tourists, they are much less likely to visit our National Parks due to the NPS fee increase. I also believe that if you would cap a bus that's entering the park at $300 you should cap groups of 20+ riding the train to $300 flat, none of this $15 per person in a group.”
• “I think that if I increased my fees by over 50% percent, I would lose most of my clients even if it is during the peak busy season. A small cost of living increase annually is expected, but this is way too much.”
• Other resource agencies have a fee structure that is 3-5% of our gross revenues. The proposed National Park fee increases will equate to 40% of our gross revenues. We will have to raise our prices significantly to offset the increase which will reduce the number of customers & tours. With fewer tours, we don't need as many employees. This will effect local & tourism dollars and tax revenue for Tusayan. Tour vehicles carry more people than individual cars entering the Park; if the tours are too expensive, more people will drive themselves which will increase the number of cars in the Park.”
• “My understanding of the per vehicle fee increases is that the rate is based on the vehicle size and not the number of guests in that vehicle. I think a flat, per person fee is far more equitable, like the current system. I'd be okay if it were a moderate increase as well, say $15 per person. However under the proposed pricing guidelines some of our trips could see fees as high as $40 per head while other vehicle sizes have much lower per person fees. The system as set up seems arbitrary at best and in fact appears to be punitive to smaller operators.”
• “I believe that an increase in fees in inevitable, however, the proposed increase is far too high. A nominal increase would be fine.”
• “The national parks should be for everyone - and are a great way of providing some opportunities to rural communities that already struggle with a number of issues living in remote areas. If there are 6M visitors to the park every year and each car pays $30 – that’s a lot of money, plus all the funding raised by the Grand Canyon Association. Maybe economizing use of internal resources should be looked at first prior to raising fees.”

We are very aware of the backlog issues in our parks – especially the water issue in the Grand Canyon – however your proposed increase of 665% will have a major negative affect on the Park, the Concessionaires and the Gateway Communities.  We feel you have failed to conduct the required studies your proposed fees will have on the recreation user and therefore should not move forward with your proposal.

Alternatively a fairer and more readily approach might be tried.  For instance why charge an additional fee of $5 per head at the end of the year which creates additional work – why not consider raising the current per person fee of $8 to $15 or $20 collected at the gate.  This is still an increase of 87.5% to a 150% increase for your revenue collection but much more manageable for the tour operators to pass on. The above proposal has been met with tentative approval by some of our operators.

Respectfully submitted:

Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau

Seasonal Entrance Fee Increase

Grand Canyon Chamber Official Comment

December 14, 2017

Dear National Park Service –

The Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau would like to comment on the proposed private vehicle entrance fee changes.

The Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce represents 71 businesses that operate in the Grand Canyon National Park Area.  We are all concerned with the impact the fees will have on the local businesses and economy.

We asked if a fee study had been conducted with respect to the proposed entry fee increase for peak season.  The NPS response we receive was “No, that peak season entry fee had never been implemented, that there was no existing data on which to base a forecast, and that ‘past comparisons of entry fees and visitation volume show little-to-no correlation’.” We would like to point out:

• You have never proposed a 133% increase in fees in the past
• The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004 shows you have failed to provide any data to support the criteria that you must consider the “aggregate effect of recreation fees on recreation users” or “the public policy or management objectives served by the recreation fee.”

We have conducted a survey of our members to see how they think visitors will respond to the proposed changes.

• 89% surveyed feel the increase of fees will have a significant negative affect on visitation
• 35% feel it will completely deter them from visiting all together

We realize that 80% of the revenue from park passes stay within the park where purchased to aid in facility maintenance and improving the general visitor experience.  We believe, however, that the projections for funding those improvements are wildly optimistic.  We are also concerned that there will be a shift from park entrance passes to annual passes which are not split at the same 80% which could have negative impacts on the parks you are trying to help.

We are very aware of the backlog issues in our parks – especially the water issue in the Grand Canyon – however your proposed increase of 133% will have a major negative affect on the Park, the Concessionaires and the Gateway Communities.  We feel you have failed to conduct the required studies your proposed fees will have on the recreation user and therefore should not move forward with your proposal.

Respectfully submitted:

Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau