The Hotels located in and around the Grand Canyon, room reservations have come to a near screeching halt. Phone lines have been flooded with cancellations as tourists opt out of taking a vacation to the Grand canyon, a vacation in which they would not be able to enter the grand canyon.
"we're just managing our business through this period as best we can," Bruce Brossman, the Grand Canyon regional marketing director for Xanterra Resorts, the largest park concessions company in the country."we just are hoping that this a short-lived ordeal."
Since the closure of the parks, Brossman estimates that Xanterra has lost about $1 million per day.
"And that's probably a low estimate," he explained.
The company owns seven properties, with total of 980 rooms, that are located within the Grand Canyon.
As long as the park remains closed, Xanterra will not be permitted to have any guests at any of their seven hotels. The hotels have been fur loughed, explained Brossman.
"The sky is blue. The trees are turning. Nights are cool and days are warm,"said Brossman. "It's about the best time of year in northern Arizona."
Canyon Facts
The Canyon is in northwest corner of Arizona and was cut by the colorado River, which courses along 277 miles of the canyon floor. The river has cut a gorge as deep as a mile into the surrounding
plateaus and is up to 18 miles wide. According to the Grand canyon Association, humans have continuously used the canyon and lived in the region for nearly 12,000 years. The area around the current national park was identified as a forest reserve and later as a national monument before gaining park status in 1919.
"I'm sure that everyone's that everyone's rates have come down in this process," Aladaz siad. "But the most important thing to get out there is that there are still options to get out and see the canyon."