Steep fee hikes at Acadia, Denali could deter cruise visitation

The Trump administration is proposing the fee hikes to address the National Park Service's $11.3bn maintenance backlog.

Denali, North America's highest peak, is a 'must-see' on overland cruise-tours, and Acadia is the top shore excursion destination at Maine's most visited port, Bar Harbor.

These higher costs would likely be passed on to passengers, raising concerns about the impact of visitation at the two parks and possibly even demand for Alaska and Canada/New England cruises since Denali and Acadia are such key draws.

The hikes apply to the peak summer season, and road-based commercial tours—how the bulk of cruisers access Acadia and Denali—face a particularly steep increase. The National Park Service (NPS) proposes each motor coach will pay up to $1,150, a $950 spike from the current fee of up to $200.

Cruise Lines International Association, some individual lines, tour operators, chambers of commerce and businesses have written to the NPS and its parent, the Department of the Interior, to express their concerns.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s letter spoke to the over 700% increase in user fees at Acadia National Park. 'While we are committed to the sustainable operations of Maine’s national parks, we believe that the proposed fee increases are excessive and will prove to be a disincentive for cruise passengers to visit the park,' the company wrote.

Today RCL's tour buses pay $150 to enter Acadia, with approximately 50 passengers, typically running three tours for a total cost of $450 per day.

Under the NPS proposal, not only would the fee per bus go up to $900, but an additional $5 per person on each bus would be collected.

'Therefore, rather than paying $150 to take 50 cruise guests to visit the park for a matter of hours, our cost will now be $1,150 per tour or $3,450 total for our three daily tours,' RCL said. 'We do not understand why the NPS would want to discourage cruise ship visitors by prohibitively increasing their costs of enjoying the park without taking into account that the visits are only for a few hours at most.

'More importantly, an increase of this magnitude will have the reverse effect on NPS’s goal of building additional funding to support the backlog of infrastructure improvements,' RCL added.

The company said it values its relationship with the NPS and understands the agency's desire to maintain these national treasures for future generations. 'We share that commitment,' the cruise operator said, adding it welcomes the opportunity to work with NPS to reach a successful resolution.

Concerning Alaska, CLIA noted more than 700 business members of the Alaska Travel Industry Association have submitted several considerations to the NPS that describe the negative effects of the rate hike, its six-month implementation schedule and the possible impact on the 587,000 visitors to Denali each year.

'We take our responsibility of contributing to the environmental and financial sustainability of protected areas seriously, but we are struggling to understand the extremely high increase in the fees we are currently paying,' CLIA wrote.

'The cruise industry and our motor coach partners are very adept at effectively managing large flows of visitors in an efficient manner,' the association's letter continued. 'The increase in personal vehicles has put a variety of stresses on our park programs and our passengers visit many areas of the park during extremely abbreviated experiences. The proposed rate increases are not in line with the amount of time that a cruise passenger is afforded inside the park boundaries.'

CLIA added: 'The amount the NPS is expecting people to pay for what amounts to less than two hours on occasion leaves us deeply worried about the financial viability of providing visitors with memorable experiences of America’s most loved places.'

The association told NPS the proposed rates will 'surely drive passengers from desiring to visit the parks. An increase of this magnitude will have a reverse effect on NPS’s goal of building additional funding to support the backlog of infrastructure improvements.'

RCL did not submit comments on Denali. Princess Cruises and Holland America Line, which operate the bulk of the cruise-tours in Alaska, did not respond to several requests from Seatrade Cruise News for comment.

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