Xanterra GM: We’re Here to Stay

Taking over the hospitality services in one of America’s busiest parks would be challenging in any season. But nothing could prepare Xanterra Parks & Resorts for this season.

In the first eight months of 2014, more than 1.8 million people visited the park and many of them stayed at the lodges and hotels now maintained and operated by Xanterra, which took over the 16-year concession contract on Jan. 1.

Recently, Xanterra’s Glacier National Park Lodges General Manger Marc Ducharme sat down with the Beacon to look back on the company’s historic first summer.

Beacon: It appears that 2014 has become Glacier National Park’s busiest ever. How did that impact Xanterra during its first year as park concessioner?

Ducharme: This summer was like drinking water from a fire hose. There were a number of challenges, including having more visitors than ever and having to open up hotels that we didn’t close, but I think we succeeded. We exceeded our expectations in guest service scores and we got all of the properties open on time. It was a very busy summer.

Beacon: You recently completed renovating your offices and facilities in Columbia Falls. What made you decide to set up shop there?

Ducharme: I’ve been in the valley for seven years and I have some knowledge of how to best access the park. We shopped around in Kalispell and Whitefish but ultimately picked Columbia Falls because it’s close to the west entrance. We also picked Columbia Falls because it’s a place people want to live.

We thought Columbia Falls was a good spot to set up a new business and working with City Manger Susan Nicosia has been great. She’s been extremely business friendly and we had very few hurdles to jump through when we got these two buildings.

Beacon: A year ago, people were shocked Xanterra was going to take over for Glacier Park Inc. Are people still leery of Xanterra and how are you working on becoming a part of the community?

Ducharme: I don’t think people have totally gotten past the perception of us being the new face in town … I’ve tried to spread the message that yes we’re new, but we’re local. If you look around the office, you’ll find that we’re not some big company from out of town. Most of us are from right here in the valley.

Beacon: One part of the concessions contract requires that Xanterra refurbish the facilities, the Red Buses and enhance the food. Where is that effort now?

Ducharme: As we speak we are beginning work on the Two Medicine Camp Store, the Swift Current Motor Inn and retail store and the Village Inn … We’re taking advantage of the fall weather to get a lot of these projects done because once the snow melts there is a very small window of time before visitors return.

We have not started working on the Red Buses because we want to save up some money these first few years so we can make sure we get it right when we do start. Right now we’re getting our facility up on Highway 206 (in Columbia Falls) that will be a big state-of-the-art and temperature controlled building to store the Reds during the winter so that they won’t freeze. That will be done by late 2015.

Beacon: What’s the long-term goal of Xanterra in Glacier?

Ducharme: The long-term goal is to keep perpetually winning the concessions contract in Glacier National Park. We have a strong focus on spending infrastructure capital here in the first few years and we want a get a return on those investments because we are a for-profit business. We anticipate being here for the next 15 years and most likely the next 30 years. So when we build things in the park, we’re building them to last. We have no intention of ever losing the contract here in Glacier.