Chemical spills, a ceiling collapse, indoor bears. Employees and park superfans blame the hospitality company Aramark. Read more - The Mess at Yosemite: www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-yosemite-national-park-aramark-mess/
@@business Aramark has created a tragic mess in visitor food/lodging at several great National Parks. However, their contracts for visitor services ONLY include hotels, food services, and their own staff lodging. They're in no way responsible for managing the other 90% of NPS operations, which is led by NPS professionals, including rangers, scientists, naturalists, engineers, maintenance staff, and more. This is all done on a shoestring budget, because Congress keeps reducing their funds. They also have a huge backlog of unfunded deferred maintenance on 20th century aging infrastructure. Many visitors go to the more remote areas of Parks and never see Aramark operations. This piece implied that Aramark is somehow in charge of directing all National Park operations, which is inc0rrect.
to be fair this is from no upkeep being done by past companies as well which would have forced them to not being able to profit from it around 5 years fixing all these problems first.
Why should they give private contracts to companies that will cut corners to save money and lead to damages to public parks? They COULD just fund the actual Park Services. It's insane.
Over the past decade, am seeing a general decline in Yosemite Valley's stewardship. Once vigilant rangers enforced rules and educated visitors, but now their presence was noticeably diminished when I visited last weekend. To me this lax enforcement has led to increased noise, speeding, and disrespect for the park. Let's protect our parks!
first and main reason for that is funding. NPS budget has beeb shrinking every 4 years. why every 4 years? because nearly every time a president is elected, the first thing they do is reduce the NPS budget for some reason. thats why there is millions and millions of dollars of maintenance work that is waiting for funding in national parks all around the country. NPS are operating on skeleton crews because thats all they can afford.
When I visited Yosemite park last year, I saw a big difference since visiting 17 years ago! The traffic is unbearable, the facilities and the buildings are in terrible condition, even the camp sites and restrooms are unacceptable! There was no order! I WONT GO BACK!!!
@@bryanthornburg8636 This, exactly. Their budgets have been reduced for years, and certain parties Iin Congress desperately wish to privatize public lands. Giving them a shoestring budget is one way to slowly accomplish that. Even though visitation has dramatically increased since the pandemic, Congress is AGAIN trying to reduce their budget for 2025.
A public land being given to a private company to monopolize didn't work out? Allow a small private industry to exist with competition or don't allow any company to make profit.
It should at least be very expensive for the concessionaire to damage the environment, with huge fines for such incidents. But in this case managing them with a public agency will probably be cheaper
There is no reason to contract these functions out to private industry. Capitalist competition requires some companies to fail. We cannot afford any of our national parks to fail. The fact that they are making profits off of public lands makes me sick.
Republicans in Congress who desperately wish for the US great public land agencies to be privatized. Since they can't (so far) openly succeed in privatizing them, they have forced these faulty contracting issues, reduced overall park budgets, and more. At the same time, visitation has e exploded, especially since the pandemic.
@@eh3477 Oh, I understand; it is always the Republican's fault. Even though it is always the Democrats who want the Federal government to run everything. When are people going to learn that having the Federal government involved in something it never was authorized to be involved in, always works for a while, but then falls apart eventually.
Agreed. I know this is a small thing, but it proved to be a sign of things to come: before Aramark, Degnan’s Deli had a “to die for” brownie (Half Dome brownie?) I’d get one every visit. It disappeared with Aramark arrival, with nothing appealing taking its place…mostly pre-packaged junk.
I have been going to Yosemite every summer for the last 45 years. When Aramark took over we saw the changes and they were not positive. The reservation process was a mess. Curry village cabins with the floors saging and about to collapse. Wet closets full of mold that you could not even open due to the smell. The empty pool at Curry Village that was very popular is yet to open. Employee housing looked like a homeless encampment with trash everywhere. The Wifi at Curry has been out for a few years now? There have been some improvements with lodging and dining but too little too late. Delaware North did a much better job.
@@paty6248 Reservations were an NPS decision, as that has to do with Park operations. In my opinion, reservations are necessary, along with better options for non-car travel to and from the park. Reservations are likely here to stay for car visitors.
@@JS-ph9ee I work for the federal government, and I have been in a situation where an essential service needed to be provided and I had to choose between marginally capable contractors who basically had the upper hand, or not getting the job done at all. I understand the former Park Service administrator when he talks about how hard it is to get a contractor to be able to perform those functions satisfactorily. Maybe the answer is breaking into smaller contracts so they can get competent companies who are more likely to bid. I don’t know, but what’s going on now isn’t working very well.
What Aramark has done to Yosemite is criminal. They should be sued and fired. They are slum lords. I go to Yosemite several times a year. Before Aramark, I enjoyed visiting Curry Village, Yosemite Village and the Awhanee. Now I generally stay away from these areas and stick to the trails only.
Aramark! The school kid's lunch poisoner? I delt with them at a Cafe in a large building. Would not recommend. Went out for lunch rather than eat that position.
I saw the difference in food so quickly when Aramark took over. It went from wide selections of foods that felt appropriate for serving customers in a national park to a sanitized, limited selection of items that felt like they were dreamt up by a corporate marketing team and look very much pre-packaged. Heck, the food courts went from looking like buffets to looking like school/prison cafeterias.
Worked at Yosemite as a park ranger and made friends who worked at other parks. Individuals working for Aramark are often dedicated and committed to preserving the park. It’s the corporate structure and the higher ups who neglect the park and safety. And it’s not just Aramark, it’s the corporate contractors all across the Park Service.
Yep, I’ve stayed there and at the Xanterra managed properties in Yellowstone. While Xanterra had nicer newer accommodations they had a major snafu. One of their employees barricaded himself and then had a shootout with park rangers at Canyon Lodge. They closed canyon lodge with no notice and did not accomodate the thousands of guests and basically had them fend for themselves in the middle of summer. No vacancy everywhere. No communication. Just sorry we are closed your reservation has been cancelled. People showed up to check in at 7 pm and got turned away. It’s a 3 hour drive to the nearest town. Aramark just plain sucks. They only extract, never invest.
They only run the direct visitors services like hotels and lodging. There are still thousands of federal NPS Rangers, scientists, engineers, naturalists, supervisors, maintenance staff, and more, who work completely separately from the corporate contractors which were basically forced onto the NPS. This piece was poorly explained. But overall I agee.... insanity.
A lot of parks, on the national, state, and local level, employ contractors who run things it would be prohibitively expensive for the government to run, like concessions. Your average food stand in a park is not going to be operated by City Hall, you know. It's a matter of not handing out cushy deals and actually holding your contractors accountable for these privileged locations.
@@eh3477 "They only run the direct visitors services like hotels and lodging." So they 'only' run every single service I as a visitor and paying customer interact with. Oh, that's all. That totally wouldn't distort your experience in the park. /s
@@Ducotevision oh gee...um...duh...by a government agency? Preferably one that is not bloated and overly bureaucratic. There was a time...oh yes...when this worked. Look at the Army...got over-bloated and mismanaged, then got "lobbied" to let private companies run some of their programs...how's that working out?
trust me, as someone that comes from a country where the government manage most of the nation’s natural resources, it’ll be so much worse…., because logically if this private corporation mentioned in this video is allowed to be so corrupt by your government, imagine if the politicians were the ones managing this.
@@MrL21do you not understand the concept of democracy... if you think governments are inherently more corrupt than corporations you need to recheck yourself
@@Dullydude i’ve been trying to fight a private concessionaire in the national recreation area in the forest that I live in. It’s impossible. I started a nonprofit, a Facebook page with a large following, reached out to municipal state and federal, elected officials, reached out to many different nonprofit organizations that supposedly protect areas such as this one, letters to the editor, I could go on, but you get the point. At this point, I’m just about done. It’s been frustrating and it’s taken up the best part of the year with no in anyway. The national Forestry Service is filled with people who have retired from other government agencies and this is their second job. I’m not saying this is all of them, but it’s a lot of them and it tends to be the people in management.
Me too. For me, that's the whole point of going there. The back country permit is the best deal in the park. Avoid most of the crowds and see the best places for next to nothing.
All the food in Yosemite is from Sysco, even the "fancy" restaurants. You're better off bringing your own food to eat. It's all packaged, frozen, and full of laundry list ingredients. I used to work up there
My wife and I just visited Yosemite. We were shocked to see how dirty the facilities in the valley are. The Valley floor area of human occupation looked run down and neglected. I urge American citizens to write our representatives in congress and demand improvements to our national parks.
I'm familiar with Aramark. They ran the cafeteria where I once worked. I'm not surprised they are doing a less than stellar job here. I hate to hear this about our national parks though.
The food they serve in prisons is actually DESIGNED to give you diabetes and other maladies. If you have seen the food ARAMARK serves in places the general public go, you can only imagine what it looks and tastes like in prisons and jails
Deleware North controlled Yosemite for years. Especially when I worked there from 1994 to 1997. Companies like Aramark and Deleware North were horrible for the park. The food quality is substandard, and they purposely cut back on the quality upkeep. It is sad to hear about the Wawona Hotel. But when I saw the Ahwanee Hotel in disrepair. That breaks my heart. I had the privilege of working in that hotel and dining room
Having just finished a holiday in Yosemite it was incredible sad to see the standards of some facilities being as low as they are. America, you have some fantastic natural wonders, please make sure they're well managed for future generations to experiance and enjoy
I agree. Either directly hire the people, or contract with many small providers that don’t have lobbying power. Maybe a not-for-profit group that pays well and doesn’t siphon $$$ to shareholders and executives, like a public power district.
Aramark it's beholden to it's stock holders they are a for profit organization. Corporations (Aramark) does not care about Yosemite national park they only care about profit profit
In theory the interests should align, but because onelce the contract signed, and Aramak faces no competition in the park, then the problems start and corners gets cut.
Another example of private industries not being able to regulate themselves. This should surprise absolutely nobody, their primary purpose is maximizing profits, not the wellbeing of customers and stakeholders.
No, it's an example of how monopolies don't need be better. For example the government doesn't need to "regulate" itself, just like companies without competitors
@@HaimRich94 What? ummmm, what? This is a private company, with a monopoly on the services in your/our countries public parks, and that private company is taking advantage of its monopolistic position to profit off of a place that you and I have paid for the existence of.
@@MrOwen-xs5hd Exactly my point, just like a government doesn't need to regulate itself (because is a monopoly), companies without competitors neither (because is a monopoly). What part isn't clear?
When I worked at a resort in Yosemite, DNC was the operator and we often joked about the negligence as "Does Not Care". Terrible to see the wealthy people come in with their tesla's and REI prada clothing while the back end of the resort was a ecological disaster.
Visited Yosemite in April. Those tents indeed didn't look great when driving by. Luckily we came in a camper and also cocked ourselves. The nature itself is amazing!
Here’s the problem-it’s not about the public or appearances. The issue lies in letting private companies like these three concessionaires-Xanterra, Delaware North, and Aramark-take over. They rotate their upper management, chasing money without improving anything significant. Their contracts are set to expire in about a decade, but fixing these buildings will take more than 15 years, which means they might lose the contract before seeing any results. There’s no real incentive for them to invest in proper maintenance or long-term improvements. I visited Yosemite in the summer of 2024, and the way construction was cordoning off areas was frustrating. I’m honestly glad I didn’t stay inside the park. Plus, it’s overcrowded-especially after 4 PM when you no longer need a reservation. The number of people floods in, and the experience just isn’t the same, especially when paying the price for staying inside the park. Congress and the president can’t really do anything when the passion of these companies is focused on chasing paychecks rather than caring for these beautiful places.
I worked for Aramark for 1 year, 3 days off and never took vacation. Was told I was on track for a promotion, until I notified with 3 months notice I was going to miss a day to graduate college, the said they were going to fire me, and I still took the day off to graduate. After, I was given a verbal warning (first offense lol) and after sitting through the meeting, I gave notice and left the room. Awful company
I really hate the trend of having loud music in the background in order to ramp up the feeling of the viewer. I can be concerned all by myself. I don't need extra emphasis through music.
22 years ago when I lived in Mariposa we would always go to Yosemite you would always see Park employees working on structures walkways Bridges bathrooms... Nowadays you don't see much maintenance going on the place is turning into a dump very sad😢............ The whole place is full of mold.... Lots of people that camp with us.... Had to leave because of sickness
This is the second docie I've seen about Aramark in the last 3 days that has outlined how this private company has been a stain on Service Delivery across its portfolio And with an industry 'big 3' no wonder how things keep going left with no checks & balances
Simple solution...Shut it all down. Return the parks to a PARK! and not amusement style theme parks. Camping only, bring your own food and maintain the sanitary facilities. No more HOTELS in our National Parks.
The ahwahnee has been there for almost 100 years. The lodge has been there since before aramark. Nobody is building new hotels here. You are wildly misinformed.
I simply visit a park, and then spend the night outside it. If I'm going to be there a whole day, I bring my own food, and then take out any trash.. There are also Naitonal Forests and BLM lands (that refers to Bureau of Land Management) areas one can visit as well, along with state, county, municipal and privately-owned properties besides--so if one doesn't find a National Park isn't acceptable, there are many other options.
In all the places I've seen Aramark, I've never seen a well run concession. It's without question always ghetto, just so poor, sloppy, subpar food, staff, facility maintenance, everything. Anyone who peeks around a bit knows this from experience.
This is EVERY National Park..tourists have overlooked this because "they" deserve the comfort of home. I worked in the park system for 17 years and witnessed 1st hand the entitlement of both the tourist and the NPS. It's a money grab pure and simple! I finally left the park system after witnessing a fist fight over a parking spot, the dumping of an over flowing ashtray and being yelled at repeatedly for helping. The mentality is "i paid 25$ so i get to do what i want"!. Truly a shame but not unexpected.
I stayed one night at Wawona in June 2023. It was very clear at the time that the building needed major renovation work. Floors that were slanted, bathrooms that were dingy, and a dining room that felt like the dining room at the Bates Motel. I hope the renovations turn Wawona into a first-rate facility. It’s far from that now.
How about just taking all the luxury crud out of the national parks and getting back to the basics, like the roads and maybe vault toilets? Everything else should be provided by private mom-n-pops surrounding the park. The purpose of the park was to experience the land in its natural state.
That's sounds absolutely wonderful; however, it's nearly impossible to experience the land in it's "natural state" when the parks are overrun with hoards of unruly visitors.
As romantic as that is, you can’t experience the “natural state” of a world famous landmark. Why would we not just maintain the hotels we already have? Rather than creating new damage outside of the park, and increasing the impacts from commuting in each day.
Over the years I’ve stayed at the Wawona hotel several times with family and friends. Part if the Wawona’s charm was the “going back in time” simplicity, and the restaurant menu and service was always amazing. Often, after a lovely dinner, we’d head to the main building fireplace and gathering area to hang out and relax while, often, there would be someone playing piano. It was so memorable and relaxing. This year my son and I returned to the hotel and I was shocked at how terrible the restaurant had become. The dinner menu was extremely limited and appeared fixed during our stay. In my opinion the food prep and quality was unacceptably low, and the wait staff seemed to have very little experience. It was so disappointing. I’m glad they’re closing it down for maintenance, and I hope that someone else returns this hotel to its former glory.
Private Equity owns Aramark, the primary contractor for services in the Parks. If you have been following what happens when private equities get into owning major shares of a company, you see dead and dying companies robbed of all assets. There are problems with the contract and the contractor NOT fulfilling their end of the contract. Same problems with college campuses and other government facilities. Doing EVERYTHING on the cheap, delayed and unfulfilled.
Aramark couldn't run a popsicle stand correctly. They're destroying Yosemite and their track record is well known for abysmal service levels. Whoever ok'd the franchise should be fired, but they'll get a raise and additional retirement benefits.
The real reason Yosemite and other US National Parks are a mess is BECAUSE CONGRESS REFUSES TO GIVE THE PARK SERVICE ENOUGH MONEY TO HAVE A TRUE ADEQUATE BUDGET. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR DECADES!
At 1:00 a fellow claims that "the National Parks belong to the American people". That is not true. The National Parks belong to the U.S. government. Big difference!
A business primary objective is to create profit for its stakeholders. If you put a company like that in charge of a national park, they will cut corners to save money
Money ruins everything. I want the Park Service to do these concessions themselves, even if it costs more. The only reason Aramark is in Yosemite to make money. (The same motivation as contract killers and thieves). The Park Service is there for us, for the park & for posterity.
Delete or rephrase your first sentence. The pursuit of money ruins everything...maybe. In the next sentence you say you want the Park Service to take over even if it costs more MONEY. Make up your mind.
They're not being sold to the private sector, but that IS something the GOP desperately wants. So they saddled the NPS with these terrible contracting requirements many years ago. They also stuck the NPS with a terribly inadequate operating budget. Having said that, federal staff (rangers, scientists, engineers, maintenance staff and others) still do manage about 95% of the Parks. The private corporations manage about 5% of the overall Park operations (hotels, food, lodging for their own staff), and this piece never explained that.
Thank you for reporting on this! It is clear they are trying to maximize profits over service and it feels like neither NPS or patrons can make a difference. This last summer many of the stores and food options ran out of stock multiple times a week. Also many of the lodging options operated by Aramark were less than 50% full. It’s nice to have less people but that’s not really the point of those resources. If you have to fight with 1000s of other people to get one site during the summer you would expect all sites to be filled. Btw the NPS ran sites in the park seem to be just fine, almost exceptional by comparison to spots like housekeeping camp
Because Congress and DC bureaucrats forced the NPS into these private contracts many years ago. They only run hotels, restaurants and lodging inside the Parks- just direct visitor support services. Otherwise the Parks are run by thousands of federal government staff across the US: including rangers, scientists, naturalists, engineers, maintenance staff and more. These managers make the main decisions for the Parks, and work separately from the corporate contractors. This piece was very messy and gave only a small picture of all NPS operations.
@@chromebomb Smart take informed by overwhelming historical evidence that government runs businesses better than private sector. Your intellect is truly superior.
Last year, while staying in Yosemite, I decided to treat myself to a nice lunch at the Ahwahnee hotel on my last day. I ended up with food poisoning which was awful. I called to report it to the restaurant. At first they seemed interested in taking info down but ended up not following up and not returning my repeated phone calls. SO disapointed in their food and customer service. Yep they're a mess.
As someone who has visited several National Parks, the most enjoyable parks are those that are less commercialized. They were never meant to be amusement parks.
My buddy lives in Yosemite but he lives in a home. I go there every single year camping. The park is old. They need to manage it better but they are taking in SO MUCH money.
So who OWNS Aramark and how can they be held responsible? The company is headquartered in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Aramark's revenues totaled US $18.854 billion in 2023, and the company was listed as the 21st largest employer on the Fortune 500. The do not just handle the Parks Services, they also have LOTS of contractions nationwide for public school systems, prisons and other facilities and companies. Something is rotten that they keep getting contracts.
The National Parks Service may not have the authority to enforce compliance but the Attorney General does, so does the Justice Department, if negligence endangering people or property is suspected. State governors should step in to kick off investigations and prosecution.
Lets hope it continues. There shouldn't be big yuppie hotels and mass development in our national parks anyway. It should be natural and undeveloped land.
This is one of many notable failures of private enterprise. I'm not against private enterprise at all, but there are some things they do better and there are other things that public (government) enterprise does better. National Parks are best left to government to run and manage with strong public oversight.
Just backpacked for 5 days out there last week. Didn’t have a lot of interaction with concessions but the place is still beautiful. It’s not “a dump” by any means. My biggest complaint was that a set of trails were allowed to grow over in the backcountry and we had to bushwhack for hours.
Yosemite is beautiful but the crowds ruin it. The best places in the Sierras don't even have a name. And no one is there. That's why it's great. Real peace can be found in solitude.
That's what's happens when you ruthless outsource everything to players in the neoliberal marketplace. You give their shareholders no reason to let them compete in the race to the bottom and profits at a maximum.
We visited two years ago and saw no “mess”. It was well maintained. The Lodge was stunning and all original. The wooden pathways were intact and signage was clear. This is one person’s impression and may not be a broad-based observation.
Staying at the Ahwahnee, was on my bucket list for many years. My wife and I stayed there in early August of 2023. In the main lobby,I was shocked at how filthy dirty, the beautiful tile floors were. It looked like no one had taken a mop to them in years. The lobby's apolstered chairs were ratty and dirty. I blame hotel management.
Part of it is so many of us are now so impoverished we don't take weekends to explore our local national parks like we once did. Working two jobs takes up all our time.
As an employee of Xanterra , working in Yellowstone National Park, I can believe it. We spend more time and money covering up problems than actually doing our work. Why? We follow the instructions we are given.
My husband and I ate at the Wawona Hotel on our trip last year and it was looking *rough* then. The amenities were not up to our standards so we had already decided to stay outside of the park, but wanted to have at least one meal in the park as part of our vacation.
I been going to yosemite since 1984 I was 9 months old so I can tell you in the late 80s and early 90s the park was way better everyone that camped got along and respected each other . Alot of foreign people come to the park and disrespect the rules and are careless I even had to tell a park ranger on some people flying drones in the big trees. I love my park I'm a local near by . But I feel like it's being neglected. Bring back lower river and upper river make more campsites for those that want to have a nice camping trip
We work with Aramark, we subsidize any losses they experience as they are viewed as a service to tenants. Essentially there is no incentive for them to run a profitable or quality business. I'd imagine this is a similar scenario.
When any government or corporate entity issues the old standard, generic, legal department generated. B.S. statement "...the safety and health of visitors and staff are the company's top priority... blah blah blah", they are simply mocking everybody, and they seriously do not GAF!
Yosemite is an international destination. I visit 2 to 3 times a year camping in the Valley. I’m there for the majesty nature; the flora and fauna, and the stunning geological landscape. The Ahwahnee is constantly under construction and recently I visited the Wawona Hotel for dinner. At least they are making repairs and upgrading structures. I would never stay in the Curry Camp tents, the look abysmal and a breeding ground for Hantavirus. Beef up the NPS and let’s put and end to corporations operating in the park.
As a frequent visitor for over 50 years, I don't think that I truly appreciated the contribution that the park Concessionaire made to the over all experience of our time in this glorious place. Under the management of DNC and much more so under Yosemite Park and Curry Co., every service I can think of; from the amenities at Curry Village and Housekeeping Camp being available to all park visitors, meaning campers, to the quality and variety of food available as well as the variety of shopping options common to vacation destinations: All were far superior and took a serious and almost immediate nose dive with the takeover by Aramark. Frequent conversations with Park Service Staff confirms that I am not alone in my extraordinarily negative opinion in this matter. The level of diminished quality provided by Aramark might make one suspect graft as perhaps the only possible reason they could have been awarded the contract. While I am so offended that anyone could so disrespect such a national treasure that I think the transaction should warrant an investigation, I will settle for Aramark's dismissal and the reinstatement of one of the organizations up to the task.
Aramark only cares about profit and their management will only focus on P&L management, they don’t care. The government needs to audit this vendor and hold them to a standard and accountable. The park itself is beautiful! I was just there and it was majestic. Didn’t spend anytime with human infrastructure.
Our local national forest campgrounds were given to private company & they are terrible & none of us locals camp there it's in the Los Padres National Forest in Ojai CA. growing up it was pristine it's now a place I'll never visit.
I visited back in the early 2000s. Opted out because it was such a mess. Now in '25 I live in OK. Visited four state parks recently and they were top notch.
On my way back from the Total Eclipse in 2017, I stopped at Yosemite. I was so disappointed, not with the scenery of course, but with the facilities, and the huge number of people. I ate some lunch in a meadow and turned around to go home. I hope all this information gets out so the necessary management changes can be addressed.
Curry Company ran that stuff for almost a century and kept things in decent condition. Then, under Reagan, the concession got turned over to a company that wasn't going to do things the old way, and here we are.
After the Curry Company lost the contract in '93, Yosemite began to go downhill as the only concern for the new management was profit. When Aramark took over in '15 the collapse accelerated.
Aramark is a slumlord. Get rid of them. Delaware North held the contract before Aramark. Delaware North ran it beautifully. Was not happy when Delaware North held the Names hostage. ( Curry, Ahwahnee, Wawona, etc. ) but they were far better at running things.
No, no no no. Delaware had ruined all the properties before Aramark took over. I was there slightly before they changed hands. If you compare how the properties were at the start of DNC awful time to the end, you'll understand.
Ah! You mean the human infrastructure built on top of the park is a mess. The park itself is beautiful and it would be even better without all these "theme park" like attractions. Let them rot.
Thanks for explaining that 99% of Yosemite is perfectly fine and the 1% with buildings and employees has issues. The park is amazing, you don't have to go to the Valley to visit the park at all.
Aramark is awful. But there is also a problem with so many millions of people running all over that park every year. The hoards of humans are ruining that park.
I worked in Yosemite from 2016 to 2017. These companies are making so much money and do not care about the health and safety of the environment, staff or visitors. The canvas tent cabins along with the showers were so run down and I was constantly sick.
I don't understand the concept of "glamping." Isn't the whole purpose of traditional camping to "get away from it all?" Isn't "glamping merely "taking it all with you?"
Chemical spills, a ceiling collapse, indoor bears. Employees and park superfans blame the hospitality company Aramark. Read more - The Mess at Yosemite: www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-yosemite-national-park-aramark-mess/
The soundtrack for this video needs to be “Lunchladyland”.
@@business Aramark has created a tragic mess in visitor food/lodging at several great National Parks. However, their contracts for visitor services ONLY include hotels, food services, and their own staff lodging. They're in no way responsible for managing the other 90% of NPS operations, which is led by NPS professionals, including rangers, scientists, naturalists, engineers, maintenance staff, and more. This is all done on a shoestring budget, because Congress keeps reducing their funds. They also have a huge backlog of unfunded deferred maintenance on 20th century aging infrastructure. Many visitors go to the more remote areas of Parks and never see Aramark operations. This piece implied that Aramark is somehow in charge of directing all National Park operations, which is inc0rrect.
Who maintains the park?? I doubt Aramark maintains the buildings??? Who owns the buildings??????
If they live in rodent infestations, shouldn't they quit or move out????
to be fair this is from no upkeep being done by past companies as well which would have forced them to not being able to profit from it around 5 years fixing all these problems first.
Aramark does not deserve to have ANY park contract
Aramark poisoned enough of my university once that midterms were delayed. Dozens of students and several professors were hospitalized.
Why should they give private contracts to companies that will cut corners to save money and lead to damages to public parks?
They COULD just fund the actual Park Services.
It's insane.
...that is the problem of Privatization. profit for the share holders, no money for repairs, essential services and wages.
Who maintains the park?? I doubt Aramark maintain buildings???
@@ziarideshouldn't even exist if the FTC cracked down on monopolies. 💀
Corruption has eroded basically all institutions.
Another term is "enshitification." It has affected every part of our lives.
I agree, but Aramark is particularly very bad
The natural outcome of unfettered capitalism.
John Jarvis is a poster boy for corrupt bureaucrats.
@@dustman96 100%. Public services cannot be profit seeking
I’m so grateful for Bloomberg for brining this to light.
Ah that explains why you are about 5 years behind
It's only bla-bla, and nothing will change
@@IreneYam1 this was amateurish reporting by Bloomberg.
Over the past decade, am seeing a general decline in Yosemite Valley's stewardship. Once vigilant rangers enforced rules and educated visitors, but now their presence was noticeably diminished when I visited last weekend. To me this lax enforcement has led to increased noise, speeding, and disrespect for the park. Let's protect our parks!
first and main reason for that is funding. NPS budget has beeb shrinking every 4 years. why every 4 years? because nearly every time a president is elected, the first thing they do is reduce the NPS budget for some reason. thats why there is millions and millions of dollars of maintenance work that is waiting for funding in national parks all around the country. NPS are operating on skeleton crews because thats all they can afford.
It’s happening to the national park in my area and there is nothing we can do about it… I’ve basically given up
@@bryanthornburg8636 This is BS.
When I visited Yosemite park last year, I saw a big difference since visiting 17 years ago! The traffic is unbearable, the facilities and the buildings are in terrible condition, even the camp sites and restrooms are unacceptable! There was no order! I WONT GO BACK!!!
@@bryanthornburg8636 This, exactly. Their budgets have been reduced for years, and certain parties Iin Congress desperately wish to privatize public lands. Giving them a shoestring budget is one way to slowly accomplish that. Even though visitation has dramatically increased since the pandemic, Congress is AGAIN trying to reduce their budget for 2025.
A public land being given to a private company to monopolize didn't work out? Allow a small private industry to exist with competition or don't allow any company to make profit.
Thank you.
It should at least be very expensive for the concessionaire to damage the environment, with huge fines for such incidents. But in this case managing them with a public agency will probably be cheaper
There is no reason to contract these functions out to private industry. Capitalist competition requires some companies to fail. We cannot afford any of our national parks to fail. The fact that they are making profits off of public lands makes me sick.
I thought that the whole reason for them being a National Park is so no one person or single company can profiteer from mother nature. Fuc me.
Make local co-ops so it benefits locals in the region!
Whose idea it was to grant a monopoly to a greedy corporation? America is messed up in so many ways 😢
Republicans in Congress who desperately wish for the US great public land agencies to be privatized. Since they can't (so far) openly succeed in privatizing them, they have forced these faulty contracting issues, reduced overall park budgets, and more. At the same time, visitation has e exploded, especially since the pandemic.
@@eh3477 Actually it's Putins fault. As well as Israel.
@@eh3477 Oh, I understand; it is always the Republican's fault. Even though it is always the Democrats who want the Federal government to run everything. When are people going to learn that having the Federal government involved in something it never was authorized to be involved in, always works for a while, but then falls apart eventually.
@@eh3477how do you “force” faulty contracting issues? I think this claim is false. Doing this at all is effectively privatizing the parks.
@@eh3477People like you who try to make everything a partisan issue are exactly what's wrong with this country.
As soon as Aramark took over you could FEEL the shift in the park. Has only gotten worse year after year! They are the worse company ever!
Agreed. I know this is a small thing, but it proved to be a sign of things to come: before Aramark, Degnan’s Deli had a “to die for” brownie (Half Dome brownie?) I’d get one every visit. It disappeared with Aramark arrival, with nothing appealing taking its place…mostly pre-packaged junk.
They are the Halliburton of parks and prisons.
WHY ISNT THERE A CONTRACT AGREEMENT? WHY CANT THE PARK LEADER TAKE THEM TO COURT?????
Totally agree. We’ve seen the same every year since they took over. This past summer was really bad.
Aramark is synonymous with county jail food and deserves no more respect than that.
I have been going to Yosemite every summer for the last 45 years. When Aramark took over we saw the changes and they were not positive. The reservation process was a mess. Curry village cabins with the floors saging and about to collapse. Wet closets full of mold that you could not even open due to the smell. The empty pool at Curry Village that was very popular is yet to open. Employee housing looked like a homeless encampment with trash everywhere. The Wifi at Curry has been out for a few years now? There have been some improvements with lodging and dining but too little too late. Delaware North did a much better job.
So Aramark is responsible for the reservations fiasco, too? That explains a lot.
@@paty6248 Reservations were an NPS decision, as that has to do with Park operations.
In my opinion, reservations are necessary, along with better options for non-car travel to and from the park. Reservations are likely here to stay for car visitors.
Everything fell apart when Deleware North was sent packing. It’s such a shame.
Delaware North also held the names of Yosemite’s landmarks for ransom. They're no angels.
@@JS-ph9ee I work for the federal government, and I have been in a situation where an essential service needed to be provided and I had to choose between marginally capable contractors who basically had the upper hand, or not getting the job done at all. I understand the former Park Service administrator when he talks about how hard it is to get a contractor to be able to perform those functions satisfactorily. Maybe the answer is breaking into smaller contracts so they can get competent companies who are more likely to bid. I don’t know, but what’s going on now isn’t working very well.
What Aramark has done to Yosemite is criminal. They should be sued and fired. They are slum lords. I go to Yosemite several times a year. Before Aramark, I enjoyed visiting Curry Village, Yosemite Village and the Awhanee. Now I generally stay away from these areas and stick to the trails only.
Totally!
One half star accommodations for five star prices!
Aramark! The school kid's lunch poisoner? I delt with them at a Cafe in a large building. Would not recommend. Went out for lunch rather than eat that position.
I saw the difference in food so quickly when Aramark took over. It went from wide selections of foods that felt appropriate for serving customers in a national park to a sanitized, limited selection of items that felt like they were dreamt up by a corporate marketing team and look very much pre-packaged. Heck, the food courts went from looking like buffets to looking like school/prison cafeterias.
Worked at Yosemite as a park ranger and made friends who worked at other parks. Individuals working for Aramark are often dedicated and committed to preserving the park. It’s the corporate structure and the higher ups who neglect the park and safety. And it’s not just Aramark, it’s the corporate contractors all across the Park Service.
Yep, I’ve stayed there and at the Xanterra managed properties in Yellowstone. While Xanterra had nicer newer accommodations they had a major snafu. One of their employees barricaded himself and then had a shootout with park rangers at Canyon Lodge. They closed canyon lodge with no notice and did not accomodate the thousands of guests and basically had them fend for themselves in the middle of summer. No vacancy everywhere. No communication. Just sorry we are closed your reservation has been cancelled. People showed up to check in at 7 pm and got turned away. It’s a 3 hour drive to the nearest town.
Aramark just plain sucks. They only extract, never invest.
Letting a private company run Yosemite IS FN INSANE
They only run the direct visitors services like hotels and lodging. There are still thousands of federal NPS Rangers, scientists, engineers, naturalists, supervisors, maintenance staff, and more, who work completely separately from the corporate contractors which were basically forced onto the NPS. This piece was poorly explained. But overall I agee.... insanity.
A well drafted contract that protects the park would have guarded against what's happening now. Also 15 years is exceedingly long.
A lot of parks, on the national, state, and local level, employ contractors who run things it would be prohibitively expensive for the government to run, like concessions. Your average food stand in a park is not going to be operated by City Hall, you know. It's a matter of not handing out cushy deals and actually holding your contractors accountable for these privileged locations.
@@eh3477 "They only run the direct visitors services like hotels and lodging."
So they 'only' run every single service I as a visitor and paying customer interact with. Oh, that's all. That totally wouldn't distort your experience in the park. /s
Democrat states for you
National Parks should not be private enterprises.
How would it be managed then without private enterprise?
@@Ducotevisionlike any national park in europe
Genuinely obscene to believe that one of shining aspects of the American system was allowed to slip this far. Roosevelt would be disgusted.
@@takemyhandtakemymind1337 which is how?
@@Ducotevision oh gee...um...duh...by a government agency? Preferably one that is not bloated and overly bureaucratic. There was a time...oh yes...when this worked. Look at the Army...got over-bloated and mismanaged, then got "lobbied" to let private companies run some of their programs...how's that working out?
Maybe stop relying on private corporations to provide public services....
trust me, as someone that comes from a country where the government manage most of the nation’s natural resources, it’ll be so much worse…., because logically if this private corporation mentioned in this video is allowed to be so corrupt by your government, imagine if the politicians were the ones managing this.
@@MrL21do you not understand the concept of democracy... if you think governments are inherently more corrupt than corporations you need to recheck yourself
@@Dullydude wow.... you must've never met my country's politicians then, because even the US corpo overlords don't want to deal with them.
@@MrL21 then vote them out...
@@Dullydude i’ve been trying to fight a private concessionaire in the national recreation area in the forest that I live in. It’s impossible. I started a nonprofit, a Facebook page with a large following, reached out to municipal state and federal, elected officials, reached out to many different nonprofit organizations that supposedly protect areas such as this one, letters to the editor, I could go on, but you get the point. At this point, I’m just about done. It’s been frustrating and it’s taken up the best part of the year with no in anyway. The national Forestry Service is filled with people who have retired from other government agencies and this is their second job. I’m not saying this is all of them, but it’s a lot of them and it tends to be the people in management.
That's why we camp at Yosemite and not stay at the hotels. And cook our own food.
Me too. For me, that's the whole point of going there. The back country permit is the best deal in the park. Avoid most of the crowds and see the best places for next to nothing.
All the food in Yosemite is from Sysco, even the "fancy" restaurants. You're better off bringing your own food to eat. It's all packaged, frozen, and full of laundry list ingredients. I used to work up there
My wife and I just visited Yosemite. We were shocked to see how dirty the facilities in the valley are. The Valley floor area of human occupation looked run down and neglected. I urge American citizens to write our representatives in congress and demand improvements to our national parks.
The incompetence, greed and corruption that revolves around these concessioners needs to be kept in the spotlight. Thank you
I'm familiar with Aramark. They ran the cafeteria where I once worked. I'm not surprised they are doing a less than stellar job here. I hate to hear this about our national parks though.
The food they serve in prisons is actually DESIGNED to give you diabetes and other maladies. If you have seen the food ARAMARK serves in places the general public go, you can only imagine what it looks and tastes like in prisons and jails
Aramark is a for profit company. Commonly used in the prison and jail systems. Not surprising they can't run a national park property.
Deleware North controlled Yosemite for years. Especially when I worked there from 1994 to 1997. Companies like Aramark and Deleware North were horrible for the park. The food quality is substandard, and they purposely cut back on the quality upkeep. It is sad to hear about the Wawona Hotel. But when I saw the Ahwanee Hotel in disrepair. That breaks my heart. I had the privilege of working in that hotel and dining room
They forgot to mention all the people that go missing in Yosemite.
Having just finished a holiday in Yosemite it was incredible sad to see the standards of some facilities being as low as they are. America, you have some fantastic natural wonders, please make sure they're well managed for future generations to experiance and enjoy
The Federal government should run the parks, not some for-profit corporation.
I agree. Either directly hire the people, or contract with many small providers that don’t have lobbying power. Maybe a not-for-profit group that pays well and doesn’t siphon $$$ to shareholders and executives, like a public power district.
Bingo!!!
same could be said of prisons, remember this company runs prisons too.
I ALWAYS THOUGHT THEY DID!
Its cus they house children underground there
Aramark it's beholden to it's stock holders they are a for profit organization. Corporations (Aramark) does not care about Yosemite national park they only care about profit profit
Hopefully you apply this logic to all industries including farma
In theory the interests should align, but because onelce the contract signed, and Aramak faces no competition in the park, then the problems start and corners gets cut.
Another example of private industries not being able to regulate themselves. This should surprise absolutely nobody, their primary purpose is maximizing profits, not the wellbeing of customers and stakeholders.
I want to know what government officials getting paid off to look the other way
No, it's an example of how monopolies don't need be better. For example the government doesn't need to "regulate" itself, just like companies without competitors
@@HaimRich94 What? ummmm, what?
This is a private company, with a monopoly on the services in your/our countries public parks, and that private company is taking advantage of its monopolistic position to profit off of a place that you and I have paid for the existence of.
@@HaimRich94 Monopoly ? You mean like Facebook or iPhone
@@MrOwen-xs5hd Exactly my point, just like a government doesn't need to regulate itself (because is a monopoly), companies without competitors neither (because is a monopoly).
What part isn't clear?
When I worked at a resort in Yosemite, DNC was the operator and we often joked about the negligence as "Does Not Care". Terrible to see the wealthy people come in with their tesla's and REI prada clothing while the back end of the resort was a ecological disaster.
DNC completely ruined the Tenaya Lodge outside of Yosemite. That place used to be great and they just let everything rot.
Visited Yosemite in April. Those tents indeed didn't look great when driving by. Luckily we came in a camper and also cocked ourselves.
The nature itself is amazing!
Here’s the problem-it’s not about the public or appearances. The issue lies in letting private companies like these three concessionaires-Xanterra, Delaware North, and Aramark-take over. They rotate their upper management, chasing money without improving anything significant. Their contracts are set to expire in about a decade, but fixing these buildings will take more than 15 years, which means they might lose the contract before seeing any results. There’s no real incentive for them to invest in proper maintenance or long-term improvements.
I visited Yosemite in the summer of 2024, and the way construction was cordoning off areas was frustrating. I’m honestly glad I didn’t stay inside the park. Plus, it’s overcrowded-especially after 4 PM when you no longer need a reservation. The number of people floods in, and the experience just isn’t the same, especially when paying the price for staying inside the park.
Congress and the president can’t really do anything when the passion of these companies is focused on chasing paychecks rather than caring for these beautiful places.
I worked for Aramark for 1 year, 3 days off and never took vacation. Was told I was on track for a promotion, until I notified with 3 months notice I was going to miss a day to graduate college, the said they were going to fire me, and I still took the day off to graduate. After, I was given a verbal warning (first offense lol) and after sitting through the meeting, I gave notice and left the room. Awful company
I really hate the trend of having loud music in the background in order to ramp up the feeling of the viewer. I can be concerned all by myself. I don't need extra emphasis through music.
💯
22 years ago when I lived in Mariposa we would always go to Yosemite you would always see Park employees working on structures walkways Bridges bathrooms... Nowadays you don't see much maintenance going on the place is turning into a dump very sad😢............ The whole place is full of mold.... Lots of people that camp with us.... Had to leave because of sickness
This is the second docie I've seen about Aramark in the last 3 days that has outlined how this private company has been a stain on Service Delivery across its portfolio
And with an industry 'big 3' no wonder how things keep going left with no checks & balances
Simple solution...Shut it all down. Return the parks to a PARK! and not amusement style theme parks. Camping only, bring your own food and maintain the sanitary facilities. No more HOTELS in our National Parks.
Campgrounds and simple sanitary facilities take a lot of maintenance too. Disperse camping is out of the question for how many people visit.
Totally agree.
The ahwahnee has been there for almost 100 years. The lodge has been there since before aramark. Nobody is building new hotels here. You are wildly misinformed.
b-but there's no money to be made there!!!
I simply visit a park, and then spend the night outside it. If I'm going to be there a whole day, I bring my own food, and then take out any trash.. There are also Naitonal Forests and BLM lands (that refers to Bureau of Land Management) areas one can visit as well, along with state, county, municipal and privately-owned properties besides--so if one doesn't find a National Park isn't acceptable, there are many other options.
In all the places I've seen Aramark, I've never seen a well run concession. It's without question always ghetto, just so poor, sloppy, subpar food, staff, facility maintenance, everything. Anyone who peeks around a bit knows this from experience.
This is EVERY National Park..tourists have overlooked this because "they" deserve the comfort of home. I worked in the park system for 17 years and witnessed 1st hand the entitlement of both the tourist and the NPS. It's a money grab pure and simple! I finally left the park system after witnessing a fist fight over a parking spot, the dumping of an over flowing ashtray and being yelled at repeatedly for helping. The mentality is "i paid 25$ so i get to do what i want"!. Truly a shame but not unexpected.
Yep, society is going right down the crapper
I stayed one night at Wawona in June 2023. It was very clear at the time that the building needed major renovation work. Floors that were slanted, bathrooms that were dingy, and a dining room that felt like the dining room at the Bates Motel. I hope the renovations turn Wawona into a first-rate facility. It’s far from that now.
Aramark needs to go!!! And pay huge fines. Another reason to not let private industry in!!!
Nope. Government chose to let random, non qualified workers take over. Should never have happened.
How about just taking all the luxury crud out of the national parks and getting back to the basics, like the roads and maybe vault toilets? Everything else should be provided by private mom-n-pops surrounding the park. The purpose of the park was to experience the land in its natural state.
Love this! From Airbnb to Mom and Pop bnb! 👏👏👏
That's sounds absolutely wonderful; however, it's nearly impossible to experience the land in it's "natural state" when the parks are overrun with hoards of unruly visitors.
As romantic as that is, you can’t experience the “natural state” of a world famous landmark. Why would we not just maintain the hotels we already have? Rather than creating new damage outside of the park, and increasing the impacts from commuting in each day.
Over the years I’ve stayed at the Wawona hotel several times with family and friends. Part if the Wawona’s charm was the “going back in time” simplicity, and the restaurant menu and service was always amazing. Often, after a lovely dinner, we’d head to the main building fireplace and gathering area to hang out and relax while, often, there would be someone playing piano. It was so memorable and relaxing.
This year my son and I returned to the hotel and I was shocked at how terrible the restaurant had become. The dinner menu was extremely limited and appeared fixed during our stay. In my opinion the food prep and quality was unacceptably low, and the wait staff seemed to have very little experience. It was so disappointing. I’m glad they’re closing it down for maintenance, and I hope that someone else returns this hotel to its former glory.
Private Equity owns Aramark, the primary contractor for services in the Parks. If you have been following what happens when private equities get into owning major shares of a company, you see dead and dying companies robbed of all assets.
There are problems with the contract and the contractor NOT fulfilling their end of the contract. Same problems with college campuses and other government facilities. Doing EVERYTHING on the cheap, delayed and unfulfilled.
Aramark couldn't run a popsicle stand correctly. They're destroying Yosemite and their track record is well known for abysmal service levels. Whoever ok'd the franchise should be fired, but they'll get a raise and additional retirement benefits.
The real reason Yosemite and other US National Parks are a mess is BECAUSE CONGRESS REFUSES TO GIVE THE PARK SERVICE ENOUGH MONEY TO HAVE A TRUE ADEQUATE BUDGET. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR DECADES!
Well come on now, how are we supposed to keep sending Billions of dollars to Ukraine if we spend that money in our OWN Country ?
At 1:00 a fellow claims that "the National Parks belong to the American people". That is not true. The National Parks belong to the U.S. government. Big difference!
Sounds like Halliburton for military overseas. Corruption cause Senators probably paid off.
A business primary objective is to create profit for its stakeholders. If you put a company like that in charge of a national park, they will cut corners to save money
A business's primary objective is to create profit for its shareholders. There, I fixed it for you.
Money ruins everything.
I want the Park Service to do these concessions themselves, even if it costs more.
The only reason Aramark is in Yosemite to make money. (The same motivation as contract killers and thieves).
The Park Service is there for us, for the park & for posterity.
Delete or rephrase your first sentence. The pursuit of money ruins everything...maybe. In the next sentence you say you want the Park Service to take over even if it costs more MONEY. Make up your mind.
Who put Aramark there in the first place???
@@aliensoup2420 We all pursue money when going to work ...
Greed is the word you two are looking for perhaps.
Why the fu-- are we selling parks to the private sector. They are ours 😡
Because america?
They're not being sold to the private sector, but that IS something the GOP desperately wants. So they saddled the NPS with these terrible contracting requirements many years ago. They also stuck the NPS with a terribly inadequate operating budget. Having said that, federal staff (rangers, scientists, engineers, maintenance staff and others) still do manage about 95% of the Parks. The private corporations manage about 5% of the overall Park operations (hotels, food, lodging for their own staff), and this piece never explained that.
Thank you for reporting on this! It is clear they are trying to maximize profits over service and it feels like neither NPS or patrons can make a difference. This last summer many of the stores and food options ran out of stock multiple times a week. Also many of the lodging options operated by Aramark were less than 50% full. It’s nice to have less people but that’s not really the point of those resources. If you have to fight with 1000s of other people to get one site during the summer you would expect all sites to be filled. Btw the NPS ran sites in the park seem to be just fine, almost exceptional by comparison to spots like housekeeping camp
It is the duty of the people to make sure the govt does their job. Great video. I didn’t know it was getting this bad there. Thank you
I’ll say it ever chance I get, Aramark is an evil company
oh can't be that worse than Tyson ...
Why are we privatizing the management of national park services???
Because Congress and DC bureaucrats forced the NPS into these private contracts many years ago. They only run hotels, restaurants and lodging inside the Parks- just direct visitor support services. Otherwise the Parks are run by thousands of federal government staff across the US: including rangers, scientists, naturalists, engineers, maintenance staff and more. These managers make the main decisions for the Parks, and work separately from the corporate contractors. This piece was very messy and gave only a small picture of all NPS operations.
Because NPS does not have the staff to do with themselves
public funds into private hands
Yeah, the government would surely run the business side of these parks better. Wait......oh.
@@SpaceTravel1776 yeah they would lol
@@chromebomb Smart take informed by overwhelming historical evidence that government runs businesses better than private sector. Your intellect is truly superior.
That is the governments job so they are doing great
Job after job posted by Aramark online, gave me that clue a couple years ago…
I mean just leave it alone all the facilities should be outside the park anyway! KEEP IT WILD!
agreed
Last year, while staying in Yosemite, I decided to treat myself to a nice lunch at the Ahwahnee hotel on my last day. I ended up with food poisoning which was awful. I called to report it to the restaurant. At first they seemed interested in taking info down but ended up not following up and not returning my repeated phone calls. SO disapointed in their food and customer service. Yep they're a mess.
As someone who has visited several National Parks, the most enjoyable parks are those that are less commercialized. They were never meant to be amusement parks.
My buddy lives in Yosemite but he lives in a home. I go there every single year camping.
The park is old. They need to manage it better but they are taking in SO MUCH money.
So who OWNS Aramark and how can they be held responsible?
The company is headquartered in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Aramark's revenues totaled US $18.854 billion in 2023, and the company was listed as the 21st largest employer on the Fortune 500.
The do not just handle the Parks Services, they also have LOTS of contractions nationwide for public school systems, prisons and other facilities and companies.
Something is rotten that they keep getting contracts.
The National Parks Service may not have the authority to enforce compliance but the Attorney General does, so does the Justice Department, if negligence endangering people or property is suspected. State governors should step in to kick off investigations and prosecution.
Thank you for this reporting!
Lets hope it continues. There shouldn't be big yuppie hotels and mass development in our national parks anyway. It should be natural and undeveloped land.
This is one of many notable failures of private enterprise. I'm not against private enterprise at all, but there are some things they do better and there are other things that public (government) enterprise does better. National Parks are best left to government to run and manage with strong public oversight.
Just backpacked for 5 days out there last week. Didn’t have a lot of interaction with concessions but the place is still beautiful. It’s not “a dump” by any means. My biggest complaint was that a set of trails were allowed to grow over in the backcountry and we had to bushwhack for hours.
Thank you for the article and info ❤❤❤
Yosemite is beautiful but the crowds ruin it. The best places in the Sierras don't even have a name. And no one is there. That's why it's great. Real peace can be found in solitude.
It is certainly very beautiful and dramatic, but in comparison the solitude of desert parks to the South is unbeatable.
That's what's happens when you ruthless outsource everything to players in the neoliberal marketplace. You give their shareholders no reason to let them compete in the race to the bottom and profits at a maximum.
We visited two years ago and saw no “mess”. It was well maintained. The Lodge was stunning and all original. The wooden pathways were intact and signage was clear. This is one person’s impression and may not be a broad-based observation.
Staying at the Ahwahnee, was on my bucket list for many years. My wife and I stayed there in early August of 2023. In the main lobby,I was shocked at how filthy dirty, the beautiful tile floors were. It looked like no one had taken a mop to them in years. The lobby's apolstered chairs were ratty and dirty. I blame hotel management.
Part of it is so many of us are now so impoverished we don't take weekends to explore our local national parks like we once did. Working two jobs takes up all our time.
You mean three….. all… of our time :/
Thanks for this content. I didn’t even know Aramark was the vendor even after being to multiple national parks, including Yosemite and crater lake
As an employee of Xanterra , working in Yellowstone National Park, I can believe it.
We spend more time and money covering up problems than actually doing our work.
Why?
We follow the instructions we are given.
Worked there this summer. I completely agree. Don’t call it xanterrible for nothing.
My husband and I ate at the Wawona Hotel on our trip last year and it was looking *rough* then. The amenities were not up to our standards so we had already decided to stay outside of the park, but wanted to have at least one meal in the park as part of our vacation.
I been going to yosemite since 1984 I was 9 months old so I can tell you in the late 80s and early 90s the park was way better everyone that camped got along and respected each other . Alot of foreign people come to the park and disrespect the rules and are careless I even had to tell a park ranger on some people flying drones in the big trees. I love my park I'm a local near by . But I feel like it's being neglected. Bring back lower river and upper river make more campsites for those that want to have a nice camping trip
We work with Aramark, we subsidize any losses they experience as they are viewed as a service to tenants. Essentially there is no incentive for them to run a profitable or quality business. I'd imagine this is a similar scenario.
Aramark let go of employees that worked there as long as 30 years. Despicable company.
When any government or corporate entity issues the old standard, generic, legal department generated. B.S. statement "...the safety and health of visitors and staff are the company's top priority... blah blah blah", they are simply mocking everybody, and they seriously do not GAF!
Yosemite is an international destination. I visit 2 to 3 times a year camping in the Valley. I’m there for the majesty nature; the flora and fauna, and the stunning geological landscape. The Ahwahnee is constantly under construction and recently I visited the Wawona Hotel for dinner. At least they are making repairs and upgrading structures. I would never stay in the Curry Camp tents, the look abysmal and a breeding ground for Hantavirus. Beef up the NPS and let’s put and end to corporations operating in the park.
As a frequent visitor for over 50 years, I don't think that I truly appreciated the contribution that the park Concessionaire made to the over all experience of our time in this glorious place. Under the management of DNC and much more so under Yosemite Park and Curry Co., every service I can think of; from the amenities at Curry Village and Housekeeping Camp being available to all park visitors, meaning campers, to the quality and variety of food available as well as the variety of shopping options common to vacation destinations: All were far superior and took a serious and almost immediate nose dive with the takeover by Aramark. Frequent conversations with Park Service Staff confirms that I am not alone in my extraordinarily negative opinion in this matter. The level of diminished quality provided by Aramark might make one suspect graft as perhaps the only possible reason they could have been awarded the contract. While I am so offended that anyone could so disrespect such a national treasure that I think the transaction should warrant an investigation, I will settle for Aramark's dismissal and the reinstatement of one of the organizations up to the task.
Aramark is run like Boeing. Big companies care more about profit over quality.
Aramark only cares about profit and their management will only focus on P&L management, they don’t care. The government needs to audit this vendor and hold them to a standard and accountable. The park itself is beautiful! I was just there and it was majestic. Didn’t spend anytime with human infrastructure.
I will sleep in a camper and run quickly to the mountains, where the real beauty lies
Our local national forest campgrounds were given to private company & they are terrible & none of us locals camp there it's in the Los Padres National Forest in Ojai CA. growing up it was pristine it's now a place I'll never visit.
It is so costly to visit and lodge in national park . I am pretty sure they can hire better contractors to manage it .
I wouldn’t mind concessions being handled by a lot of small businesses and overseen by a not-for-profit group.
I visited back in the early 2000s. Opted out because it was such a mess.
Now in '25 I live in OK. Visited four state parks recently and they were top notch.
Shameful!
On my way back from the Total Eclipse in 2017, I stopped at Yosemite. I was so disappointed, not with the scenery of course, but with the facilities, and the huge number of people. I ate some lunch in a meadow and turned around to go home. I hope all this information gets out so the necessary management changes can be addressed.
Curry Company ran that stuff for almost a century and kept things in decent condition. Then, under Reagan, the concession got turned over to a company that wasn't going to do things the old way, and here we are.
After the Curry Company lost the contract in '93, Yosemite began to go downhill as the only concern for the new management was profit. When Aramark took over in '15 the collapse accelerated.
Aramark is a slumlord. Get rid of them. Delaware North held the contract before Aramark. Delaware North ran it beautifully. Was not happy when Delaware North held the Names hostage. ( Curry, Ahwahnee, Wawona, etc. ) but they were far better at running things.
No, no no no. Delaware had ruined all the properties before Aramark took over. I was there slightly before they changed hands. If you compare how the properties were at the start of DNC awful time to the end, you'll understand.
Thank you Bloomberg for bringing this to light
Ah! You mean the human infrastructure built on top of the park is a mess. The park itself is beautiful and it would be even better without all these "theme park" like attractions. Let them rot.
Thanks for explaining that 99% of Yosemite is perfectly fine and the 1% with buildings and employees has issues. The park is amazing, you don't have to go to the Valley to visit the park at all.
Aramark is awful. But there is also a problem with so many millions of people running all over that park every year. The hoards of humans are ruining that park.
I worked in Yosemite from 2016 to 2017. These companies are making so much money and do not care about the health and safety of the environment, staff or visitors. The canvas tent cabins along with the showers were so run down and I was constantly sick.
Yay, enshittification has hit the national parks! 😒
I’m so glad we boondocked when we were there.
This saddens me.
I don't understand the concept of "glamping." Isn't the whole purpose of traditional camping to "get away from it all?" Isn't "glamping merely "taking it all with you?"