Well! What has happened?
Here we are almost at the end of 2007 and not only have intra Caribbean airfares climbed to the highest ever recorded, but travel within the region has fallen dramatically by an estimated 30 per cent. LIAT’s response is to cancel a number of flights, rather than making it more affordable to travel, and one is left to ponder exactly what benefits the ordinary Caribbean taxpayer has reaped from the millions of dollars in subsidies the airline has received. According to the Barbados Statistical Service, we lost a total of 11,928 Trinidad and Tobago and other CariCom long stay visitors during the first six months of 2007 alone.
Up until the merger of LIAT and Caribbean Star, the Caribbean represented Barbados’s third largest market for long stay visitors. Not only did Intra Caribbean travel supply a lifeline for many of our smaller hotels but even more important that that, it filled rooms during the critical summer months, when we most needed the business. A loss of nearly 12,000 visitors based on average stay and spend represents nearly $30 million in tourism earnings. And what we have to take into account is that this happened during a period that we were hosting the Cricket World Cup when additional intra regional traffic was generated.
What if anything has been the net benefits to the travelling public from the merger?
It is difficult to identify any!
Historically highest airfares!
Reduced traveller’s choice!
A grossly overstaffed airline operating from an illogical base!
Is this really the legacy benefit we were looking for?
Adrian Loveridge
6 responses so far ↓
Paper tiger // November 10, 2007 at 7:10 am
Lynch= Lies
» Bajan Underground Reports Yet Another Assault on the Caribbean Taxpayers and the Barbados Tourist Industry Keltruth Corp.: News Blog of Keltruth Corp. - Miami, Florida, USA. // November 10, 2007 at 11:53 pm
[...] Bajan Underground Reports Yet Another Assault on the Caribbean Taxpayers and the Barbados Tourist Industry Posted in November 10th, 2007 by admin in Entertainment & Travel, Government, Politics and Development, West Indies News, Barbados Barbados Underground guest reporter Adrian Loveridge has investigated the LIAT subsidy, and the net effect appears to be negative. After Caribbean taxpayers financed whopping subsidies, airfares have not decreased – they have gone up instead. Moreover, Caribbean tourist flights into Barbados have been reduced, seriously impacting the Barbadian tourist industry. Read the BU article here. [...]
Psychiatric Hospital // November 17, 2007 at 11:10 am
Adrian Loveridge,
How is the syphilis treatment going?
Edited….David
No Name // November 17, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Psychiatric Hospital
You have the right to print anything you want to print. But let me ask you this. And with all dur respect!
When you re-read the above venom you just wrote about a man and his wife for really no other reason than public embarassment. May I ask these questions?
How do you sleep at night? Do you have a wife, girlfriend or fiance? How would you like to have someone maliciously and cruelly verbally attack them for no good reason as you have done here? What about children do you have them? Is this an example you want to set for them and other youth reading this blog?
People say it is better to ignore your ilk but I take another position. I think that people like you are very troubled and you need to seek help.
You cannot destroy credible and decent people with this vulgar and unkind rhetoric.
In the event you lack the education or intelligence to participate in dialogue—– ANY dialogue, believe me you would be well advised to keep silent.
I hope you read the recent discussions of Barbadian men and violence against women. What you have displayed here this morning is a typical profile of a woman abuser! Get help my friend because you badlu need it!
Adrian Loveridge // December 6, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Submitted to be published but got lost in the mail, sorry Adrian L. We see that BFP published so all was not lost :-)
forever liat customer // September 30, 2008 at 6:36 am
I believe David has a personal problem with LIAT, Chastenet from St Lucia hates LIAT its a fact. Caribbean Governments have cheated LIAT, they make the decisions not the Airline. The Airline workers are just puppets responding to their bidding . Due to political circumstances these guys hide behind the Airline creating policies.
The caribbean have the decision to increase the Airline’s fleet and adding more sophisticated Aircraft for long haul flights.
I still love my LIAT, without them, I wont be able to fly from Dominica, American Eagle don’t even cut it.