About Xanterra Parks & Resorts.

For Immediate Release

DENVER, May 8, 2008 - Even if you haven't yet booked your national park vacation for this summer, there is still hope, according to concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts. By following a few simple suggestions, any traveler can enjoy an affordable and memorable vacation in one the country's most spectacular settings, even with as little as 24 hours' notice.

"Advance bookings for national park lodges by both domestic and international travelers are strong this summer, so the key to successfully reserving a room in a park at the last minute is to be flexible and persistent," said Judi Lages, vice president of sales and marketing for Xanterra.

Lages offers these tips for planning a last-minute national park vacation.

1. Be informed.  Visit Xanterra's web site at www.xanterra.com for general information on the parks operated by Xanterra as well as lodging descriptions, rates and availability. Another good source of information on national parks is the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov.

2. Be web-savvy. Rooms can be booked online at www.travelyellowstone.com, www.grandcanyonlodges.com, www.zionlodge.com, www.brycecanyonlodge.com, www.craterlakelodges.com and www.furnacecreekresort.com (Death Valley).  Booking online is usually the quickest way to secure a reservation.

3. Be flexible. Because some people make their plans far in advance, they often have to change or cancel existing reservations. Be as flexible as possible with travel dates and choice of lodging and you stand a better chance of getting a room on short notice.

4. Be timely. International tour operators reserve blocks of rooms up to two years in advance in anticipation of selling these rooms as part of tour packages to the United States. If all the rooms are not sold, operators must release them for resale 30 days out. Want to travel on July 30? Book first thing on June 30.

5. Be persistent. Rooms open up - and are often very quickly re-booked - every day. The quickest way to check availability is by going to the web site and following the link for reservations. Bookmark the web site and check it frequently to see if rooms have become available.

6. Be a bargain-hunter. National park vacations are a great value, and prices at lodges, restaurants and gift shops inside the parks can be lower than prices at facilities outside the parks. This is partly because every room, meal and souvenir sold by a concessioner within a national park is priced based on comparable items outside a park. The National Park Service monitors and approves all rates charged within the boundaries of every national park in the country.

7. Book activities and make dinner reservations. Dining rooms do fill, so if you want a meal in one of the lodges, plan ahead. Popular activities like the Old West Cookout at Yellowstone's Roosevelt Lodge fill up fast too. Phone numbers can be easily found on all Xanterra web sites.

8. Travel during the first two weeks of June, the last two weeks of August or the first two weeks of September. Families with schoolchildren are either winding down after the end of school or gearing up for the beginning of school, so those periods -- although still considered peak season -- are a little slower than the rest of the summer.

9. Just show up. Travelers who arrive between noon and 6 p.m. often find last-minute rooms available. Once in a park, the front desk at any lodge can check availability for all rooms within the park.

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Xanterra Parks & Resorts® (consisting of Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Inc. and Xanterra South Rim, L.L.C.) operates lodges, restaurants and other concessions at national parks and state parks and resorts. Xanterra Parks & Resorts is the country's largest park concessioner. Xanterra operates concessions in the following locations: Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Rocky Mountain and Petrified Forest National Parks, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial; and at the Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif.; and eight Ohio State Parks. Its affiliate Xanterra South Rim, L.L.C. operates concessions at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Xanterra operates the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, Ariz.

Long committed to the preservation and protection of the environment, Ecologix, Xanterra Parks & Resorts' environmental program, includes a variety of proactive environmental stewardship programs in each location. Xanterra has been repeatedly recognized for its environmental leadership in the hospitality industry and is the recipient of many honors, including major awards from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, Travel Industry Association, Colorado Department of Public Health, State of Arizona, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

For more information about Xanterra, links to individual properties and reservations numbers, visit www.xanterra.com.

Xanterra Parks & Resorts

6312 S. Fiddlers Green Circle

Suite 600 North

Greenwood Village, Co 80111

Media contact:

Mona Mesereau

 (1) 720-842-5271

mona_mesereau@msn.com