Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts has been awarded the contract to operate Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, NASA officials announced. The new concession agreement, which begins May 1, 2010, has a 10-year base period with one five-year option and five one-year options. Delaware North came out on top in a competitive bid process that began in 2009.
“We’re elated and honored, ” said Kevin Kelly, president of the parks and resorts division of Delaware North Companies, a $2.2 billion privately held hospitality, food service and retail provider. “Over the last several years, we have worked closely with NASA to tell the story of space exploration to millions of guests from around the world through new experiences. We look forward to building on our platform and continuing the journey with NASA to showcase space exploration’s past, present and future.”
Since 1995, Delaware North has operated Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex – the public component of the Kennedy Space Center launch facility – for NASA. During the past 15 years, the company has worked with NASA to implement extensive educational programs, including designing and building major new attractions such as the Apollo/Saturn V Center, a tribute to NASA’s lunar landing program; and the recent Shuttle Launch Experience, which simulates what astronauts experience while launching into space aboard a space shuttle.
About Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts
Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts is a leading hospitality provider in special places, with hotel, retail, food service, recreation and transportation operations at historic and scenic properties across North America. The company operates Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and at Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite national parks, including The Ahwahnee and other Yosemite lodges; Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite & the Cottages at Tenaya Lodge; Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa in British Columbia; Niagara Falls State Park; The Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake in Ohio; Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga; Holiday Inn West Yellowstone; and The Queen Mary in Long Beach. To learn more about Delaware North Companies’ hospitality management expertise, visit www.ExperienceDNC.com.
About Delaware North Companies
Delaware North Companies is one of the world’s leading hospitality and food service providers. Its family of companies includes Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, Delaware North Companies Gaming & Entertainment, Delaware North Companies Travel Hospitality Services, Delaware North Companies Sportservice, Delaware North Companies International and Delaware North Companies Boston, owner of TD Garden. Delaware North Companies is one of the largest privately held companies in the United States with revenues exceeding $2 billion annually and 50, 000 associates serving half a billion customers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. For more information, visit www.DelawareNorth.com.
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