PATRIOTIC PRICING.
by Bob Ramsay
Dynamic means to move. Dynamic pricing means the price of an Uber ride moves, always up, never down, when an external factor like a nearby Taylor Swift concert, or a flash storm or a nuclear attack makes car rides hard to find. If anything, AI will make dynamic pricing move faster and more invisibly.
For example, you’ll pay more for exactly the same coffee maker as I do, not because you live in a different city, or on a different street, but because you have a better credit rating. Indeed, very soon, very little in our lives will not be subject to the constant that different folks will get different strokes.
Meanwhile, back here in Presentville, Donald Trump just introduced dynamic pricing to America’s National Parks. Starting January 1, you won’t pay more if it’s a warm and sunny day at Yellowstone, or a Grizzly Bear is posing for Instagram selfies. You will pay more if you’re not an American.
Basically, under the new “America First” pricing, you’ll pay $80 for an annual park pass if you’re an American; and $250 if you’re not.
If you’re thinking foreign visitors to the U.S. are already way down this year, why would America make it easier for millions of foreigners to stay away?
I mean the percentage of international visitors to Yellowstone fell from 30.8% in 2018 to 14.8% last year. Worse still, next year the U.S. will co-host two giant global events: theFIFA World Cup soccer tournament with teams and their fans from around the world; and on July 4, 2026, America’s 250th anniversary. Given Mr. Trump’s rising racism and xenophobia I’m betting foreign attendance at both events will shrivel with the prospect of foreign visitors being delayed, or examined at the border, or even deported.
The rationale for America First pricing is not new. Many countries keep the price low for locals and get foreigners to overpay for upkeep and administration. Kruger National Park in South Africa charges South Africans $11 per day while foreigners pay $35 per day. At the Taj Mahal, Indians pay 60 cents; foreigners $13. In France’s major museums, EU residents pay less than non-EU residents, and in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Jordan, you can pay 60 times more than a local.
Canada’s national parks face the same over-crowding, rising-cost, aging-infrastructure as America’s do. But our parks don’t charge people more because they are foreigners. Indeed, they charge ‘newcomers’ less than Canadians.
Parks Canada partners with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship’s Canoo program to give new permanent residents (within their first five years) and new citizens (within their first year) one full year’s free admission to all national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas.
I’m sure this must cost Ottawa some foregone Park revenues. But whatever that number is, it’s nothing compared to the reputational rewards Canada enjoys for being one of the very few countries that opens its arms to newcomers, rather than pick their pockets.
I’ll bet it would still be worth it financially if this program were expanded from landed immigrants and new citizens to include international visitors.
Think how that idea would play when they get back home.
Meanwhile…
1. Why can’t we live like this? Next week Australia becomes the first country to ban social media accounts for teens.
On the other hand, the world thinks we’re ‘not bad’. Canada moved from 6th to 3rd just this year.
On the third hand, of the 50 top vineyards in the world, only one is Canadian: Mission Hills Family Estate in the Okanagan, ranked 45th.
2. What are you doing tonight? Come to Koerner Hall on December 6 for the fabulousNew Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Get 20% off with promocode: RAMSAY20.
Come next Friday, December 12 to see A Holiday Fruitcake with fashionista Isaac Mizrahi, profiled in last week’s Globe and Mail. Same venue, same discount, same promo code.
3. You go girl. Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin asks Pete Hegseth a simple question and foretells where Trump is taking us. And Messi’s go-to guy? Here. Speaking of sports, which have the most upsets?
4. Do you fear dementia more than cancer? Britain does, mainly because there’s no cure in sight. Maybe Health Canada can start to change that here.
5. BBC bends the knee. Dutch historian Rutger Bregman was invited to give the BBC’s Reith Lecture. Here’s what happened next. Speaking of the British Empire, colonialism still lives here.
6. Stolen phone; stollen bread. Do this to keep your iPhone’s content from being kidnapped, and this if it’s stolen.
As for the best Christmas bread ever, try stollen. Or try ChatGPT if you want your recipe to seduce. Or try Ikea’s new cook-by-numbers.
7. The man who wrote Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, is dead. Here’sHenry Oliver on Tom Stoppard, the greatest English playwright since G.B. Shaw. When asked what his Hamlet play was about, Stoppard replied that it was about to make him a lot of money. He used to reply, when asked where he got his ideas from: “Harrods”.
Speaking of…the dying art of being a bum. And cheating death. And John Stapleton onwriting with machines.
8. Bigger bester. With 100 branches across the city, the Toronto Public Library is already the largest public library system in North America and the busiest in the world. This week it bought space for its new 100th branch which replaces the old St. Lawrence Market branch. New branch: 30,000 square feet. Old branch: 4,800 square feet. We get it. Not in some distant suburb, but at Queen and Parliament in the oldest part of the city.
9. Flee our feelings? Never! Except maybe…always. And why we need to be alone, even at Christmas, especially at Christmas.
10. The new cold war? It’s already here. Also, why is Russia even at the peace table? Despite Putin’s bluster, he’s staring down a deep domestic abyss. Speaking of Russia vs. Europe…
11. What I’m liking (and even using). AI links to make gift-buying easier:
Last week OpenAI launched a tool called “shopping research.” Just prompt “find the best cordless vacuum,” or “pick out a new toy for my four-year-old niece,” and the chatbot will pull up a list for you. Genie does the same.
Love this perspective! You always see the bigger picture, connecting how AI amplifies these biases. Seriously, "America First" pricing is just so wrong. It's like a real-world example of what you've been discusing about fairness and acessibility for everyone. Such a smart piece.
The comparison to Taj Mahal pricing is interesting but misses a crucial economic point. Those countries have dual pricing because foreign tourists have way higher willingness to pay and the infrastructure needs funding. America First pricing is different because it'll probably lose revenue overall when foreign tourism keeps dropping, and national parks already run on federal money anyway. It's pricing based on identity politics, not economics.