National Park Service

Scope: Concession Policy Development, Contract Management Tool Development, Asset Management

Issue: The National Park Service Commercial Service Program (NPSCSP) needed comprehensive standards and operational evaluation tools for better program management.

Process/Outcome:

CHMGS began this engagement benchmarking the NPSCSP standards and evaluation process against private industry practices. Included in the study was a working session with the American Automobile Association and the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and interviews with multiple other rating agencies and nationally recognized lodging, food and beverage and retail companies, to identify industry best practices for setting and evaluating performance standards. From the study, we confirmed the need for classifying each service and developing improved standards and evaluation processes.

First, CHMGS developed preliminary classifications and standards for internal review by an NPSCSP working group comprised of NPS staff, concessioners, and the CHMGS team. After identifying appropriate classifications, CHMGS professionals worked with industry representatives to develop facility, operations, and maintenance standards for each of them. CHMGS then tested the standards at multiple national parks to assess the degree to which the standards reflected NPS assets and identify barriers to implementation.

In a subsequent phase of the project, CHMGS made recommendations for improving the overall NPS concessioner evaluation program, thereby aligning it with private sector best practices, achieving more meaningful and actionable reporting, and to better align the incentives of concessioners to meet or exceed the standards. CHMGS also reviewed NPS rate administration policies and their alignment with the new classifications, standards and evaluation process.