Will National Park Challenges in 2026 Impact Inbound Tourism?

2026 will present inbound tour operators and their clients with a series of challenges impacting both the cost and the quality of experiencing our national parks.
 
Both of these situations are on top of other issues, which can continue the circumstances that made the United States the only country worldwide to see a decline in visitation in 2025. These issues include tariff policy reactions, aggressive searches for illegal immigrants, and other increased fee and visa application modifications.
 
On the national park front, IITA is aware of the increase for non-resident (international) America the Beautiful passes to $250 in 2026 or, in the absence of having the pass, a per-person fee of $100 each at eleven of the most popular national parks. This would be $400 for one park for a family of four.
 
The affected parks are Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion. Find the latest updates based on clarification from the National Park Service.
 
Additionally, there has been a reduction of 24% in the staffing of the National Park workforce, primarily at the regional and park level. This will create some lethargy in the implementation of various programming initiatives and the services which are offered.
 
Further complicating this personnel reduction is the new need to determine which visitors are resident U. S. citizens and which are non-residents. The National Park Service has not clarified how this will be specifically done.
 
IITA will continue to speak out on these issues.  Lisa Simon has already focused on these subjects at the recent House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing on international tourism and has worked with both the IITA board and advocacy committee to keep both the Administration and Congress national parks policy makers informed on the effect of these decisions on inbound tourism and its economic impact.
 
That is the short term strategy. IITA members also need to consider what modifications should be recommended in 2027 should one or both houses in Congress have a change in leadership after the 2026 midterm elections.
 
2026 will be a year in which IITA member inbound operators need to keep the board and staff informed on how these changes are affecting business.