California — Back in August, POWDR announced its plans to sell various ski resorts. The company aims to diversify its business plan by becoming a concessionaire at more national parks. National Parks partner with private concessionaires to operate facilities like restaurants and hotels. The three big private concessionaire providers right now are Aramark, Deleware North, and Xanterra. The move by POWDR made a lot of sense based on the perspective I obtained from reading a Bloomberg Businessweek article this past summer.
Yesterday, Bloomberg Originals released a video detailing the various problems that Yosemite is dealing with, which were previously explained in an article by Laura Bliss. The investigative piece blames private concessionaire Aramark for negligence that has endangered the safety of guests and employees.
The allegations against Aramark are extensive: buildings across the park are falling apart, workers accidentally dropped 500 gallons of glycol five hundred feet away from the Merced River, and rodent infestations have increased scrutiny. Aramark hasn’t done enough to care for the facilities at Yosemite, leading to safety concerns and increased scrutiny of Aramark and its contract with the National Park Service. Due to these issues, people have called for Aramark to lose its concessionaire contract with the National Park Service.
Aramark operates various facilities across Yosemite, including lodging properties, restaurants, shops, grocery stores, gas stations, swimming pools, and more. They even operate Badger Pass, one of the few active ski areas inside a U.S. national park.
Since their investigative piece, shit has continued to hit the fan at Yosemite. The national park plans to close Wawona Hotel indefinitely starting in December so that they can conduct a “comprehensive condition assessment.” This followed news in May 2023 that a guest was injured from falling after leaning onto a decrepit balcony railing. In addition, rodent droppings were discovered in several areas of the Ahwahenee Hotel.
Aramark’s management of other parks has also drawn criticism. Its mismanagement of Crater Lake National Park led to Senator Ron Wyden calling for a federal review, eventually resulting in the NPS nixing the contract at the park.
Aramark admittedly received a lot of deferred maintenance when its contract started in 2016, and operating during the COVID-19 era was a difficult challenge for the outdoor industry. Aramark is also saying that they’re working hard to fix these issues. Still, it’s easy to conclude that Aramark is lucky not to have had its Yosemite contract canceled.
Click here to read the article by Bloomberg Business. It takes a while, plus inserting a small amount of money into the paywall, to read or listen to, but it’s worth it.
Image/Video Credits: Gibblesmash asdf (Featured Image), Bloomberg Originals, Skimap.org, Yosemite National Park
