National Parks Updates: International Fees and CUAs

Inbound Operators Report on NPS International Fee Impact

In a recent survey, IITA inbound operators reported they impact the new surcharge and annual pass fee increase for international/non-resident visitors to national parks will have on their businesses. The data and comments will feed IITA advocacy actions with the administration and Congress.

Interesting notes:

• Nearly 75% of inbound operator respondents have presold tours that include national parks.
• 70% say the surcharge will significantly decrease their group tour business.
• More than half of respondents said the fee will increase their per-passenger tour costs by at least $100 with 30% suggesting it the increase will be more than $200 per passenger.
• More than 50% said they cannot pass the cost on to clients due to contractual requirements and another 20%+ weren’t sure yet.
• More than 60% say if they have to absorb the cost on pre-sold tours it will cost their business more than $100k, with 40% estimating the impact above $250k.

Some comments from the survey tell the story even more pragmatically:

“This surcharge undermines our ability to sell U.S. group tours internationally because sudden cost increases push clients toward non-U.S. destinations or force us to remove national parks from itineraries, ultimately reducing overseas tourism, park visitation, and total revenue rather than increasing it.”

“This will have a fairly serious impact at a time when US Inbound is already significantly down and challenged.”

“Becoming overly expensive (and indirectly "unwelcoming") becomes a key reason why our clients (Tour Operators abroad) recommend other destinations to their clients (the visitors), which offer a seemingly better value proposition.”

“It will significantly lower our sales and passenger numbers visiting the U.S.A. as a whole as the affected National Parks are a main reason for customers to book the U.S. at all.”

CUAs for Small Vehicle Road-based Commercial Tours (RBCT)

Some IITA members reported that for their group tours in vehicles for 15 or under passengers weren’t fitting the RBCT Commercial Use Authorization (CUA) criteria; nor did they fit the criteria that most smaller passenger vehicles fall into, which is Guided Interpretive Tours. So IITA sought clarification from NPS officials. 

Many small groups under 16 passengers offer additional services beyond those of road-based commercial tours, like guided hikes, history/education interpretive tours, or other activities while in the park. Therefore, they are required to secure a Guided Interpretive Tours CUA at some parks.

RBCT CUAs only apply to commercial vehicles that carry 16 or more passengers and are not conducting any additional activities within the park.

Commercial tours/vehicles that don’t fit the criteria of either CUA, likely don’t need a CUA to enter the parks. However, CUAs are required to manage and offset the impact commercial vehicles/activities have on park resources, and it is up to the discretion of each park Superintendent to determine the impact of these smaller vehicles. 

Operators who feel they don’t meet the criteria of either commercial tour CUA should contact the parks they plan to visit to find out what, if any, CUA would be required.

CUA Annual Reports:

According to the National Park Service, annual CUA reports for CY25 are due before March 1, 2026.

If the RBCT CUA holder originally applied for and was issued a CUA through the online CUA system, they should have received an email last week that the annual report was available for completion through the system. If the RBCT CUA holder originally applied for and was issued a CUA outside of the online CUA system, they should submit their annual report to the issuing park using the annual CUA report form (NPS Form 10-660) available on our CUA website. Issuing parks have already sent or will be sending out notification shortly. 

As a reminder, for the CY25 report and beyond, NPS has removed the requirement that CUA holders provide their overall gross revenue. CUA holders are now only required to provide the gross revenue they earned as a result of doing business authorized by the CUA and should not report revenue for operations occurring outside the park if those operations were not park-dependent and were unrelated to the operations authorized by the CUA. 

IMPORTANT - Annual CUA reports for CY26 are not due until March 1, 2027. The report due on that date and for CUAs held in future years is included in our RBCT CUA standardization, and entities will not need to report park-specific revenue earned from each individual CUA, but instead report gross revenue earned from ALL CUAs they held in CY26. 

For more information or questions about CUAs, contact Samantha Towery, NPS CUA Program Manager.