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GC sees better visitation<br>over Veterans Day weekend

GC VILLAGE — Free admission into Grand Canyon National Park had a positive impact on visitor statistics over Veterans Day weekend, at least those folks who came up in their own vehicles.

A visitor takes a closeup look at Yavapai Point. Veterans Day weekend brought more tourists to Grand Canyon. (Photo by Brad Fuqua/GCN)

Maureen Oltrogge, public affairs officer for GCNP, reported a 45-percent increase of visitors over this Veterans Day weekend, compared to the same weekend last year. There was a cumulative increase of 28 percent.

The one area where there was a decrease was seen with commercial tours. As has been the norm since the events of Sept. 11, commercial tours were down 12 percent over the holiday weekend compared to last year. International tourism appears to be down, which has impacted Grand Canyon more than some other spots.

"Based on what I saw revenue-wise, it’s looking like commercial tours are down 52 percent (in October)," Oltrogge said. "Again, that’s a significant decrease."

The National Park Service tried its best to get Americans out to the national parks over those three days. The free admission served as a promotion for "unity, hope and healing."

Jim O’Sickey of GCNP fee management said the South Entrance Station was to be fully manned from 6 a.m.-7:30 p.m. each of the three days. Entrance fees were waived for both private vehicles and commercial traffic. The private vehicle visitors actually had free access to the park for a full seven-day period.

"It will be business as usual, we’re just not taking any money," O’Sickey said prior to the event.

Camping and backcountry fees were not waived, partially because of problems which could have occurred with visitors who had paid reservations. Sam Slack of Grand Canyon Railway said train passengers paid the entrance fee as part of their ticket, but got cash back at the depot.

Mallory Smith, assistant to the GCNP superintendent, said the event served as an opportunity to create partnerships. The park got together with Grand Canyon Association and Grand Canyon National Park Lodges over the weekend.

GCA decorated stores in red, white and blue and offered a 5-percent discount above and beyond any other discounts already in the store. GCNPL placed patriotic flag lapel pins in their rooms.

GCA’s Bob Koons had one of the bigger patriotic ideas with a 20-by-30 foot flag.

"He wanted to hang it off the bottom floor of Kolb Studio, that was nixed," GCA’s Patty Brookins said. "Then he wanted to hang it off the bottom of the transit pavilion at CVIP ... but there was no way to hang it without it hitting the ground or someone in the face."

Smith said the free admission over Veterans Day weekend was widely publicized, including public service announcements airing in various spots.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced the suspension of the entrance fees for the Nov. 10-12 holiday weekend as a way of encouraging travel. The NPS hoped it would provide an economic boost to businesses in and around the parks.

Grand Canyon has reportedly been one of the hardest hit national parks because of its dependence on air travel and foreign visitors.

The year-to-date visitation numbers for GCNP shows an 8-percent decrease compared to 2000. Through October, there have been 3.74 million visitors. That number was 4.06 million through the first 10 months last year.

In October alone, visitation is down 22 percent from last year’s numbers for the same month. There were 368,560 recreation visits in October 2000, down to 287,259 this year.

On the South Rim, visitation is down 9 percent for the year. Last month, visitation on the South Rim was down 25 percent when compared to October 2000.

The only transportation mode not showing a decrease for the year is Grand Canyon Railway. Train numbers are above even with 131 more passengers this year over 2000.

Tourists visiting the park by bus are down 19 percent through the South Entrance, down 17 percent through the East Entrance and down 19 percent on the North Rim.


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