Trump Administration Will Raise Prices for Foreign Visitors at National Parks

The increases come as more and more international travelers are choosing to stay away from the United States and amid turmoil at the National Park Service.

Starting on Jan. 1, foreign tourists will have to pay a $100 surcharge to visit the country’s most popular national parks under a new plan by the Trump administration. That’s three to five times the typical entry fee for U.S. residents.

It’s an “America First” approach to public lands that has fueled a debate among environmentalists, members of Congress and mom-and-pop businesses that offer guided tours of parks.

Supporters say the fees could generate hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to repair deteriorating roads and buildings at parks across the country. Critics say the charges could prompt international visitors on a tight budget to skip the nation’s natural wonders, worsening what is already a decline in foreign tourism.

Currently, visitors to around 100 national parks pay fees ranging from $10 per person to $35 per vehicle, with annual passes costing a standard $80. There is no differentiation based on citizenship or residency.

The Interior Department said that the new $100 fee would come on top of the daily entrance fee for foreign visitors to the 11 most popular national parks. The agency said those parks were Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion.

In addition, annual passes for foreign visitors to those parks will cost $250 beginning on Jan. 1, according to a news release from the Interior Department. They will continue to cost $80 for U.S. residents.

“President Trump’s leadership always puts American families first,” Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, said in a statement. Foreigners authorized to live in the United States will not be charged the new fees.

The increased pricing comes as more and more international tourists are choosing to stay away from the United States. Canadians, who have historically formed a large share of international travelers, are continuing to boycott American destinations amid President Trump’s trade war and harsh rhetoric directed at Canadians. Canadian travel to the United States has declined every month since Mr. Trump’s second term began.

And the National Park Service, which has been operating under the Trump administration without a permanent leader, is struggling to maintain the parks in the aftermath of deep staffing cuts. The agency has lost nearly a quarter of its work force since Mr. Trump took office, and routine tasks like cleaning and stocking the bathrooms in park facilities have gone undone. Fewer rangers are giving tours and lectures, and some visitor centers have reduced hours.

Mabry Word, the co-owner of Bryce Canyon Scenic Tours and Shuttle Service, which offers bus, biking and hiking tours of Bryce Canyon and Zion in Utah, called the new fees a “surprise attack” on his small family-owned company, which has customers from all over Europe and Asia.

“There is a chunk of our clientele who are just barely able to scrape together enough money for the tour, and now they may opt out,” Mr. Word said. “The families from Europe are not going to want to pay for their kids, but they’re not going to leave their kids home, either.”

Around 14.6 million foreign tourists visit at least one national park or national monument each year, according to 2018 estimates by the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group. 2026 will be America’s 250th birthday, and tour companies had been hoping the occasion would attract even more foreign visitors to some of the country’s most popular sites.

Jim Schaberl, who retired last year as division chief for natural and cultural resources at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, said the higher fees could price out international students.

“A lot of students are staying at hostels and trying to travel more cheaply, so maybe this is a barrier for them,” he said. “And that’s a shame because then they won’t see what America has to offer.”

Mr. Schaberl added that park rangers could be required to scrutinize passports. “This whole business of determining who’s a citizen at park entrance gates opens up a whole can of worms that isn’t fair for rangers,” he said.

Asked about these criticisms, Elizabeth Peace, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, said in an email, “The updated fee structure reflects the significant investment made by U.S. taxpayers to support these public lands, while still welcoming international visitors who help sustain local economies and share in our nation’s natural and cultural heritage.”

A recent study commissioned by the Property and Environment Research Center, a conservative research group, found that a $100 surcharge for international visitors to Yellowstone alone could generate $55.2 million in new revenue, enough to cover the park’s annual maintenance costs of $43 million. At the same time, the fee could lead to the loss of around 57,000 international visitors, representing just 1.3 percent of total visitors, the study found.

Several Republican members of Congress have introduced a bill that would codify the fee changes into law. “Many countries around the world charge tourist fees to visit attractions that are run and maintained by their taxpayers; it’s common sense that America should do the same,” Senator Tim Sheehy, a Montana Republican and sponsor of the measure, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Other countries have indeed imposed surcharges on international visitors to some of their most treasured parks and nature preserves.

Ecuador charges international tourists $200 to enter Galápagos National Park, while Ecuadorean adults pay $30. Rwanda requires nonresidents to buy a $1,500 permit to see gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, while Rwandan citizens pay about $21.

The Interior Department’s announcement also said that U.S. residents would not have to pay to visit national parks on six federal holidays, as well as on the birthday of the National Park Service, Aug. 25, and on June 14, which the statement noted is both Mr. Trump’s birthday and Flag Day.

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