45 



draws for Americans and international visitors alike. In 1994, 

 there were nearly 270 million visits to our national parks, and re- 

 tail sales for local communities were generated amounting to about 

 $10.1 billion and supported 230,000 tourism-related jobs in and 

 around those communities. 



More than 12 million international visitors came to our parks so 

 you can see that the travel and tourism industry is a vital part of 

 the economic food chain and our country, and the national parks 

 and public lands are very much a strong, integrated link within 

 that chain. And we believe that the concessioners help to keep that 

 chain strong. 



As an example of the vital importance of the concessioner and 

 the services he or she provides, we could use the example of Zion 

 National Park which I know you are familiar with, Mr. Chairman. 

 It is truly one of our most beautiful, spectacular national parks and 

 also one of our most isolated. While there is a small town located 

 outside the park land, more popular cities are located much farther 

 away up to 40 miles. 



Now, if we hypothetically took away the park concessioner and 

 it came time for even a drink of water, you would probably have 

 to fmd yourself a cactus because 40 miles is a long way to go for 

 a drink. And if your children were screaming, "Dad, what is for 

 dinner?" a 40-mile drive may not be conducive to a restful vacation. 

 Even if you were to reach a closer, quaint town, it may not be able 

 to handle a carload of kids or to provide lodging for the night. For 

 tour buses laden with 40 or 50 park visitors, the problem is, of 

 course, much more severe. 



The parks and other public lands were established for the enjoy- 

 ment of the people, not exclusively as courses for "Ironman" com- 

 petition. Were the concessioner to be taken away, the public lands 

 would become a viable vacation destination only for an elite super- 

 fit few, and while I wish I were among them, I dare say myself and 

 millions of other Americans would not, alas, make the grade. 



We should note also that among the most rapidly growing mar- 

 kets for visits to the parks in recent years have been the increased 

 numbers of senior citizens and those who are disabled or handi- 

 capped. And as Park Director Kennedy testified a little bit earlier, 

 the biggest reason for the park concessions that we have is to serve 

 the public, to make those visits to the park as enjoyable and as fea- 

 sible as possible. 



Now, when it comes to matters of reform, it is always admirable 

 to be bold and take risks in order to bring about positive change. 

 But in the case of concession reform, the old saying, "If it ain't 

 broke, don't fix it," holds especially true. 



It is our understanding through our discussions with the Park 

 Service that there are fewer complaints today about visitor services 

 than at anytime in the history of the Park Service. Certainly, I 

 have heard nothing today so far to contradict that. So we believe 

 that any reform should not jeopardize the current good standing of 

 the concessioners and the services they perform. We believe H.R. 

 2028 is exactly the right kind of reform and exactly on track to 

 achieve that goal. 



Perhaps one of the "hot list" terms of 1995 is "public-private 

 partnerships." A major responsibility of the public sector to private 



