Park Service: Need to Address Management Problems That Plague the Concessions Program

The Park Service has made significant progress in this area. It has contracted with a major consulting firm to obtain expertise in managing large hospitality assets. In addition, the agency has begun providing training on hospitality management to its concessions staff through Northern Arizona University's Hotel and Restaurant Management program.

The National Park Service established a task force to update inspection and rate approval standards and processes, and to identify options for conducting inspections. NPS also contracted with PricewaterhouseCoopers to revise evaluation classifications and standards for lodging, food/beverage, marinas, and retail operations. NPS, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, will be pilot-testing the revised standards in late 2004. In addition, the agency tasked PricewaterhouseCoopers to evaluate the feasibility of using third party inspection entities, such as AAA or Mobil, to perform inspections of lodging operations throughout the Park Service. These actions satisfy the intent of the recommendation.