Travel industry groups warned Washington that higher national park fees could drive international visitors away. Across Arizona Tours has now gone a step further — taking the U.S. government to federal court over international tourism to the United States.
PHOENIX, Arizona — September 30, 2026— Some of America’s largest travel and tourism organizations have spent months warning Washington that new national park fees for international visitors could discourage travel to the United States, disrupt tour operators and hurt local economies. Now a small Arizona tour company has escalated that fight from industry advocacy to a federal courtroom.
Across Arizona Tours is suing the Trump administration, challenging a policy that charges non-U.S. residents an additional $100 per person to enter 11 major national parks and $250 for a nonresident annual pass. The Arizona company says the policy has already cost it prospective customers, including 80 to 90 international travelers who declined to book tours, most of whom cited the increased fees as a factor.
The lawsuit puts a small Arizona business at the forefront of a much larger dispute over U.S. inbound tourism: Can a policy intended to put Americans first end up financially hurting the American businesses and workers whose livelihoods depend on foreign visitors?
Read the lawsuit: click here .
The Travel Industry Warned Washington. An Arizona Company Went to Court.
Across Arizona Tours is hardly alone in worrying about the consequences of the new fees.
The International Inbound Travel Association (IITA)raised serious concerns before the surcharge even took effect, warning in December 2025 that the new system presented immediate problems for inbound tour operators and international group travel.
As the controversy grew, IITA joined with some of the most prominent organizations in American travel and tourism — including the U.S. Travel Association, National Tour Association, U.S. Tour Operators Association, American Bus Association, Student & Youth Travel Association, United Motorcoach Association and Adventure Travel Trade Association— in urging Congress not to codify the international visitor surcharge before its operational and economic problems were addressed. Other organizations, state and regional tourism boards, remained quiet so as not to confront the almighty Trump administration.
Their concerns were substantial. The coalition reported stalled bookings, cancellations and itinerary changes. Some operators were removing national parks from itineraries entirely, while some businesses estimated financial exposure exceeding $250,000.
The National Parks Conservation Association also publicly challenged the policy. After initially raising concerns about implementation, staffing and the possible effects on gateway communities, the organization called on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to halt implementation until the problems could be addressed.
So the tourism industry has not been silent. But Across Arizona Tours has chosen a different weapon.
Rather than another industry letter, policy statement or appeal to Washington, the small Arizona company filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona against the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, the National Park Service and senior administration officials.
The complaint, filed September 28, asks a federal judge to declare the nonresident entrance fee and annual pass unlawful and stop the federal government from enforcing them. That makes the case unusual.
A national tourism association can warn that a policy damages inbound travel. A trade organization can lobby Congress. A conservation organization can demand that an agency reconsider.
Across Arizona Tours is asking a federal court to force the issue.This is a major investment for a small company, knowing hourly attorney fees can range into the hundreds of dollars and more.
Why This Small Company Says It Had to Act
For Across Arizona Tours, the debate is not theoretical. The company provides one- and two-day guided tours around Arizona, including van tours inside Grand Canyon National Park under a federal Commercial Use Authorization.
International travelers represent substantial business for the company, according to its lawsuit.
Since the new fees were introduced, Across Arizona Tours says it has experienced declining business from nonresident customers. Some prospective visitors have abandoned the Grand Canyon and chosen other U.S. destinations. Others, the complaint says, have decided to vacation — and spend their money — in other countries.
Company co-owner Carole Stapleton says she personally spoke with 80 to 90 prospective nonresident customers who decided not to reserve a tour, with most indicating that the higher park fees contributed to their decision.
Those individual decisions illustrate the larger problem American tourism organizations have been warning about. The United States does not have a captive international tourism market.
Foreign travelers can choose Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Latin America or countless other destinations. Once a traveler concludes that visiting America has become too expensive, complicated or uncertain, the money does not simply disappear.
It goes somewhere else. And the American businesses that would have received it lose the sale.
A $35 Grand Canyon Visit Can Become a $235 Visit
The policy originates with President Donald Trump’s July 3, 2025 executive order, “Making America Beautiful Again by Improving Our National Parks.”
The order directed the Interior Department to develop a strategy to increase national park entrance and recreation-pass fees for nonresidents. The administration says the additional revenue will support federal recreational areas and improve infrastructure and visitor experiences.
Beginning January 1, 2026, non-U.S. residents aged 16 and older became subject to an additional $100-per-person feeat 11 heavily visited national parks: Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion.
International visitors can alternatively purchase a $250 nonresident America the Beautiful annual pass, compared with the $80 fee charged to U.S. citizens and residents.
At the Grand Canyon, the lawsuit illustrates the difference starkly.
A U.S. resident family arriving by car can pay $35. An otherwise identical international family of four with two adults could face $235 in entrance charges.
For a family that has already paid for international flights, hotels, rental cars, meals and guided tours, several hundred dollars in additional charges can become another factor in deciding whether the trip is still worth taking.
Supporters of differential pricing argue that international visitors should contribute more toward maintaining America’s parks and note that charging foreigners more at major attractions is not unique to the United States. But for American tourism businesses, the economic calculation is more complicated.
The federal government receives the additional park fee. The tour operator risks losing the customer.
Tour Operators Become Residency Gatekeepers
Money is not the company’s only complaint. Across Arizona Tours says the policy has also placed an uncomfortable new administrative burden on private tour operators.
According to the lawsuit, the National Park Service expects commercial tour companies to know how many passengers are nonresidents and annual-pass holders before entering the park so drivers can provide that information to federal fee collectors.
Tour drivers are also expected to pay the entire amount of entrance fees due for their passengers, including applicable nonresident fees.
The lawsuit says the National Park Service warned that if fee collectors believe tour operators are providing inaccurate residency information, stricter compliance measures could include checking identification of pass holders or passengers, potentially increasing transaction times and delaying tours.
Across Arizona Tours says some customers consider questions about their residency intrusive.
The company also says it previously provided Grand Canyon tours to foreign students at Arizona State University but stopped doing so because of the new residency requirements.
For a small tourism company, the dispute therefore goes beyond an extra park fee. Across Arizona Tours says the policy has forced it to change its business practices and that its employees face additional administrative burdens.
The Stakes Extend Far Beyond One Arizona Tour Company
The consequences of declining international tourism do not stop at a national park entrance booth.
A foreign visitor coming to see the Grand Canyon may purchase airline tickets, hotel rooms, restaurant meals, rental cars, guided tours, gasoline, souvenirs and other services during a trip through Arizona and the American Southwest. That spending supports American businesses and American jobs.
The National Park Service itself estimated that visitor spending in communities near national parks generated a $56.3 billion benefit to the U.S. economy in 2024, according to figures cited in the complaint.
The economic chain is straightforward. A traveler who cancels a Grand Canyon vacation does not merely save a national park entrance fee.
A tour operator may lose a booking. A hotel may lose several nights. Restaurants lose meals. Rental-car and transportation companies lose customers. Guides lose work. Retailers lose sales.
For communities dependent on tourism, those individual decisions accumulate.
One More Barrier for International Travelers
The national park controversy also arrives at a time when prospective international visitors are weighing a wider collection of costs and administrative requirements associated with visiting the United States.
For travelers who require a visitor visa, there are application fees and procedures. Some travelers can face additional requirements depending on nationality and U.S. immigration policy. International political and trade disputes can also influence perceptions of the United States as a destination.
None of those factors alone determines whether someone visits America. But tourism decisions are cumulative.
Airfares matter. Hotel prices matter. Exchange rates matter. Visa requirements matter. Border experiences matter. Entrance fees matter. And whether travelers believe they will feel welcome matters.
International tourists can compare all of those considerations with competing destinations around the world.
That is why the experience described by Across Arizona Tours matters.
The company says prospective customers have explicitly chosen not to visit the Grand Canyon and, in some cases, decided to spend their vacation money in other countries.
America Is Competing for Tourists
The United States does not have a monopoly on spectacular scenery or memorable vacations.
A European, Asian, Canadian, Australian, or Latin American family considering the Grand Canyon can also visit the Canadian Rockies, European Alps, African national parks, Australia, Japan, Latin America, or countless other destinations.
International travelers have choices. And international tourism functions economically much like an American export.
Instead of shipping an American product overseas, the United States brings the foreign customer here.
Visitors purchase hotel rooms, restaurant meals, tours, rental cars, entertainment, domestic flights, souvenirs and other services from American businesses. Their money enters local economies and supports American employment.
When that customer chooses another country, those tourism dollars go with them. National parks are especially important because many are surrounded by communities whose economies are closely connected to tourism.
The Grand Canyon is not an isolated attraction behind a federal entrance gate.
Visitors arriving there may spend days traveling through Arizona and the American Southwest.
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