Advent of Delta-Northwest could change Guyanese travel culture

A United States-based Guyanese travel consultant has told Stabroek Business that the challenges confronting the international airline travel industry could have a significant negative impact on the movement of travellers between Guyana and the world’s major capitals, particularly the United States.

“Changing circumstances including fuel-related travel costs and the declining profitability of some routes are impacting on convenient travel between Guyana and North America. The recent challenges faced by Constellation illustrate just how fragile the airline travel regime can be for countries like Guyana,” Fort Lauderdale –based Travel Consultant Hazelyne Bostwick told Stabroek Business recently.

And according to Bostwick the closure of the country’s national airline, the Guyana   Airways Corporation (GAC) “appears to be coming back to haunt Guyana” since, she says, “we have not really been able to secure an airline travel service regime that responds effectively to the demands of travellers.
Bostwick, who has commented  previously  in this newspaper on the closure of GAC told Stabroek Business that she did not accept the argument about the profitability of the airline. “Those who continue to make that argument must explain how other airlines, including charter services, have since been able to ply the same route  and how, to this day, other airlines are still seeking to service the same route” . I  accept that GAC had its problems but I believe that those problems arose out of management weaknesses. When GAC was in the middle of its crisis we saw no evidence of management of things like target marketing and joint venture fares with other airlines to make it possible for them to bring passengers to a particular point and have GAC bring them the rest of the way to Guyana,” Bostwick said. …..