US National Parks to hike fees for millions of international visitors • FRANCE 24 English

Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon. They are among the most spectacular places on the planet, and they are about to get a lot more expensive to visit for foreigners. A new $100 fee is being added to the standard entrance price at 11 US National Parks, and the fee is just for foreigners. On social media, the US’s Interior Minister, Doug Bergam, laid out a number of changes in a promotional video. In addition to the fee, he’s tripling the cost of an annual pass and just for foreigners from $80 to 250. Bergam touted a number of other changes, such as more free visiting days for Americans, commemorative passes that place Donald Trump’s portrait alongside George Washington’s and priority to Americans and US residents for reservations. Reposted by the White House under the banner of America first, the changes are part of a larger agenda set forth by Trump. this past summer just signed an executive order to raise entrance fees for foreign tourists while keeping prices low for Americans and we’re going to do that the national parks will be about America first. We’re going to take it America first with the national park. But could such announcements be just a bunch of smoke and mirrors? Well, it comes as funding to the parks could be cut by a third or by a billion dollars by the Trump administration. It also comes amidst mass staff shortages. The National Park Service has lost nearly a quarter of its staff since Trump took office. While it’s unknown what the new and hiked fees for foreigners will do to tourism, the America First agenda is having a chilling effect on foreign tourism in the US. The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the US is on track to lose 12.5 billion dollars in foreign travel spending in 2025 with tourists choosing to head elsewhere where they feel more welcome.

The National Park Service said Tuesday it is going to start charging the millions of international tourists who visit US parks each year an extra $100 to enter some of the most popular sites, while leaving them out of fee-free days that will be reserved for American residents.
#US #NationalParks #USNationalPark

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37 comments

  1. What a joke, as fast as they are printing money everything should be free but it's not, we getting screwed coming & going!

  5. Americans can now stop complaining about being charged more (with some falsely believing that it's because of their skin color) when they travel to developing countries. 😁

  13. Another good reason to stay the hell out of America.Come to Canada our National parks are just and nice and no stupid Trump taxes.

  18. Quebec has beautiful national parks and you can still speak French. Do that in America and you will attacked by MAGA Karens.

  19. Before covid, US has 90m outbound tourists 79m inbound tourists…. Simple solution, the world just collectively raise the price for American visitors..

  21. I was wondering why so many people doesn’t understand how busy it is in the US national parks here, then found out this is an European channel and that explains it all 😂

  23. I have no idea why anyone would still want to vacation in the US as a tourist. I had relatives there and never wanted to go.
    And now they want tourists to pay an extra $100 per person on top of the normal entrance fee to visit the 11 national parks.
    This US government is changing the way people view the US in every respect. Honestly, people should also refrain from watching the World Cup in this country.

  25. This is no surprise. Yellowstone S1 E7 John Dutton to Mandarin-speaking Chinese TRESPASSERS:
    "This is America. We don't share land here!"
    I, for one, will also not forget the bison calf that was euthanized by Park Rangers after it was touched by a human. At the same time. this administration''s partitioning of the wilds for development makes DJT, et al, seem like the basis for the Beck Brothers character developments; that's pretty obvious from the paved over concrete Rose Garden. If once consider's nature's laws, That partitioning, too, is an "unlawful order" Hence the Beck Brother's reference is appropriate.

  30. The US could hike the entrance fee to $1000… Foreign tourists aren't going to visit a nation where they aren't feeling welcome.

  31. What would the hotels and shops in the national park regions say if foreign visitors spent less money there or stopped coming altogether?

  33. Yeah, won't be visiting at all then now. That's called a barrier and disincentive. Oh well. 🤷 Spend thousands on a vacation, each family member, multiple times a year. Won't be fleeced. So many are feeling the same. Will cost BIG TIME on tourism losses! Will generate LESS. Especially student tourists and young travellers on a budget.

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