History
A legacy of the 19th century Fred Harvey Company, after the death of the founder's grandson in 1965, the company became affiliated with Chicago-based JMB Realty, which acquired large Hawaii landholder Amfac in 1968 and broke it up into independent corporations including Amfac Resorts. In 1995, Amfac bought the large national parks management concession TW Recreational Services from Flagstar. In 2002, Amfac changed its corporate name to Xanterra after the bankruptcy of Amfac Hawaii. The name comes from a combination of Xanadu and terra, meaning Earth. The Anschutz Company bought Xanterra from JMB in 2008.
Xanterra specializes in tourism in U.S. National Parks, and has a presence in Yellowstone and Grand Canyon, and a number of other national and state parks. They are contracted by the US National Park Service to provide lodging and services in these parks. Accommodations and pricing vary widely and include quality hotel rooms, lodges, rustic cabins, motel-style lodging and camping.
To provide service to throngs of tourists each year, while protecting these national parks, Xanterra has developed an extensive environmental program: decreasing fossil fuel use, increasing renewable energy use, recycling, and offering sustainable cuisine with a local focus.
The most notable of the original Harvey operations is the Grand Canyon South Rim concession, including the El Tovar Hotel. The company owns the Grand Canyon Railway, which has been in the news for experimental use of used vegetable oil (from cooking French fries) to power locomotives. In July, 2010, the company announced it was acquiring the Kingsmill Resort near Williamsburg, Virginia, a world-renowned hospitality property. The Kingsmill Resort was developed beginning in the 1970s as part of Anheuser-Busch's projects of theme parks, residential, commercial and industrial developments coordinated between August Busch and Winthrop Rockefeller intended to complement Colonial Williamsburg and enhance both the region's tourism attractions and local economy.
Read more about this topic: Xanterra Parks And Resorts
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