227 



bidders, thus introducing competition. Nonetheless, the Park 

 Service acknowledges that since the current concessioners maintain 

 a preferential right to renew their contract by matching or 

 bettering the best offer, competition continues to be impeded. 



In our opinion, the Park Service's efforts, while limited by 

 the provisions of the Concessions Policy Act of 1955, are a step in 

 the right direction. However, a change in the 1965 act is needed 

 to eliminate the preferential right of renewal. 



THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO OBTAIN 



A BETTER RETURN FROM CONCESSIONERS 



We have reported that the concessions fees paid to the 

 government appear to be low. In our June 1991 report,^ we reported 

 that the six agencies received about $35 million in fees from gross 

 concessions revenues of $1.4 billion--an average return to the 

 government of about 2.4 percent. Since that report, we have 

 updated these figures for the Park Service and the Forest Service. 

 These figures are shown in appendix III. Concessions revenues now 

 exceed $2 billion and fees are approaching $50 million; the return 

 remains at about 2.4 percent. 



In 1991 and 1992,' we testified that it was difficult to 

 determine whether the federal government was receiving a fair 

 return from Park Service concessioners because in addition to the 

 cash fees it received, the Park Service was receiving various types 

 of compensation from sources other than cash fees. Non-cash 



^GAO/RCED-91-163, 



' Recreation Concessioners Operating on Federal Lands (GAO/T-RCED- 

 91-16, Mar. 21, 1991) and National Park Service: Policies and 

 Practices for Determining Concessioners' Building Use Fees (GAO/T- 

 RCED-92-66, May 21, 1992). 



