Airport fees

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Maybe, maybe not. If it does have a significant impact, the airlines will wind up dropping fares just to fill seats. Ultimately, it will balance out but the diehard regulars do stand to benefit in the near term from any reduction in fares.

Or the Airlines will just stop flying (at all or as much), they have done before- on Roatan and other points.

Reduced fares :hm: I'll take odds against that one! :rofl3:

At a price average now of 35 to 50¢ a mile for airfare, that is already in the obscene realm.

And Airline revenue people are particularly obscene.

ButchYaNeverKnow
 
It's actually about 1/3 mile offshore and about 4 miles West of CCV. Yes, Sharks are memorable. Some people who have seen Sharks often then move on to prefer Pipe Fish or Nudibranchs.



OK, so there's one "no" vote.

I think the reefs along the South side of Roatan, between Fantasy Island, CCV and Parrot Tree- they are a rare representative example of something that is very unique in the Caribbean. There are many good days, there are a few bad days, but for some odd reason we return at least once or twice a year, among the 7+ weeks we are off doing dive travel. When I told my wife about the $60 exit fee, she barely reacted. We expect this stupidity from the Honduran government. We really don't react to the airline baggage fees. What are you going to do? I'll cut corners somewhere else to pay for it.

I do believe that there are enough fans of this unusual South side Roatan niche environment, shallow vertical walls, always Sunlit... that careful, slow and observant divers will continue to pay the tolls and will keep diving even at a place as downright awful as the waters around CCV. We are but two of that huge group. The place is booked solid, but the one next door is empty. Go figure.

Unfortunately, the dive-dive-dive mentality that fuels CoCoView is not pervasive on the island, actually it is unique. Thus, I got to wonder.... how is the rest of the island going to fare? Most of the other dive locations are as good as the current state of affairs in the Caribbean, the Marina Reserva zone is what most of the Caribbean looked like in the 1980's and is improving daily. But is that enough for the generally inexperienced fans to pay the extra toll?

Most divers who travel are not looking for the 28+ in a week that CCV will offer, so lets take the CCV fans out of the equation~ they will continue to pay the tax. Other visiting divers want some other activities, and Roatan's offerings are far behind any other Caribbean destination (Utila is not worth even referencing in that regard)... unless you like to drink, and if you want that- co to Cozumel.

Roatan is like the story of the Elephant being described by seven blind men- each has a different take based upon the very small area that they have touched.

No, this tax is going to hit the islands very hard, but the die-hard fans who have the skills to see what they are seeing will still show up to the South side. Like I said, not a lot of openings in the reservation books.

How hard do you think it will hit the islands. As for tourism I would guess the vast majority will react like your wife.
 
How hard do you think it will hit the islands. As for tourism I would guess the vast majority will react like your wife.

Read that article link that started this. The really great impact on Honduras will be far greater than any tourist dollar reduction. It reminds us that Medical Missions and gaggles of Christian Kids descending upon the country to provide free manual labor (just what they need) for a price of $1800 per participant, well, it's going to change a lot of lives. Maybe the Churches will just send the cash the mission participants fork over.. ummm... maybe not.

Besides that, you are representative of the divers who have discovered the true unique environments that are found on select reefs of Roatan. Aint nothing like it in the Mar Caribe.
 
Some pictures of blue tang gangs and Wrasse isn't indicative of healthy fish populations. The 12 dive sites I dove on the north side all had two things in common

1) Noticeablly lack of small reef fish on the coral heads (juveniles)
2) HUGE sized lion fish on every single dive

Not a sea horse to be found and dive masters all saying the same thing - "I've been here for 2 years and have never seen a sea horse." Same dive masters who don't cull the lion fish. Duh, ya think there is a connection?

Maybe the south side is in better shape, but the north side reefs I saw were way different then they were just 2 years earlier. Coral garden areas that were teeming with fish life just two years ago were like ghost towns.
 
There are idiotic taxes in every country on earth.

If you find Cozumel or Bonaire a better value then that is probably where you should go.

Me..... I like it there, $22/pp is less than 1% of the total cost of the trip for me.

Not to say that I agree with the application of the exit fee, it will not determine if I go there or not. If $22 makes the decision where you go then so be it.

The money wouldn't mean much if the diving was still spectacular.

Show me a location with spectacular diving and divers will sell their left nut to go. But with the diving being now average at best, the fees start to become the straw that breaks the camels back, they become the catalyst when considering two different dive locations to go to the other one. It simply becomes - ridiculous fees and average diving, naw, let's got back to Cozumel or Bonaire instead of Roatan. Roatan already has some of the most expensive airline ticket prices in the Caribbean, adding another $120 bucks to the tickets isn't too smart in my opinion.
 
If it does have a significant impact, the airlines will wind up dropping fares just to fill seats. Ultimately, it will balance out but the diehard regulars do stand to benefit in the near term from any reduction in fares.

LOL!,
Look at the history, Ten years ago we could fly all in R/Tfrom Miami on TACA for about $200, Their prices steadily climbed a bit over time and then Continental started flying to RTB and everyone cheered Woooo Hoooo, The competition will bring lower prices, NEVER happened, And Then DELTA joined in and all cheered WOOO HOOO Competition will cause lower rates but again it never happened, When all three were offering direct nonstop TACA was still the cheapest, They decided to leave, face it, the airlines really do not care if people visit Roatan, they want their planes full at the hihest rates they can get
 
Maybe, maybe not. If it does have a significant impact, the airlines will wind up dropping fares just to fill seats. Ultimately, it will balance out but the diehard regulars do stand to benefit in the near term from any reduction in fares.

Airlines will reduce the size of the jet to the smallest economically viable, then they will reduce frequency, dropping from twice a day to once a day service, then 5 days a week, all the way down to just 1 day a week flights. Fares will go up before they will go down. Only competition through multiple carriers traditionally lowers fares, and you only get competition through enough volume of travellers to a destination to create enough volume for multiple airlines and flights.
 
Maybe the south side is in better shape, but the north side reefs I saw were way different then they were just 2 years earlier. Coral garden areas that were teeming with fish life just two years ago were like ghost towns.

Better shape? Maybe, but my point is the physical shape, the geography of the reefs. The South side is so dramatically different- shallower, vertical and Sunlit. Roatan, underwater, is really two different islands. There are Seahorses and Pipefish to be found on the South side~ likely on every dive, dependent upon water conditions and luck. The soft Coral filled walls are crammed with colorful crustaceans and fish- the ones that hide in plain sight... that many simply never see. It all depends upon the DM and the guest diver's willingness to follow, observe and learn. You really have this environment nowhere else in the Caribbean.

And yes- the four major dive ops in the South are killing Lionfish as they are spotted. Unfortunately, some DM's can only do that and not lead a successful naturalist dive experience. Better Ops will have a balanced presentation.

Even on that 60 Minutes program that aired tonight with Anderson Cooper thrashing about in Cuba's Marine Sanctuary- Lionfish were huge and obvious. Maybe with the presence of huge Goliath Groupers and other present large apex predators, possibly the Queens Gardens of Cuba has an edge against the little devils. With the extant fishing throughout the Caribbean, you don't see much big, anymore... anywhere.

The cool thing about diving the North/West side of Roatan, is that since the institution of the Marina Reserva, a lot of the apex critters are getting a chance to grow larger. This allows some easily spotted and familiar larger critters to begin divers on their naturalist observation careers. The North/West has never been known for lush Coral or florid walls, but at least with larger Cudas, Lobsters and such- they do have a draw.
 
This is what is being said today

http://www.hondurasweekly.com/president-lobo-blocks-airport-exit-fee-hike-201112214619/

[h=1]President Lobo Blocks Airport Exit Fee Hike[/h]
Honduras Weekly
President Porfirio Lobo today that he has suspended the proposed increase of the airport exit fee from US$37 to US$60. The Congress last week approved legislation authorizing InterAirports SA, which operates Honduras' four major airports, to raise the fee to help finance construction of a new commercial airport at Palmerola Air Base in Comayagua during the next three years. But the possibility of such a steep tax hike has been met in recent days by an outpouring of public criticism, and specifically by the business community which has expressed its concern about the negative impact of the tax on tourism and foreign investment. Members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that perform volunteer work in Honduras and sponsor hundreds of volunteer mission teams per year also made their opposition to the tax known.

President Lobo stressed that his decision to block the tax hike does not mean that the Palmerola airport project, valued at US$130 million, will be cancelled or delayed. "I have already communicated with [InterAirports] and said that a technical committee should look for intelligent, solid, and creative [financing] mechanisms," said President Lobo.
 
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President Lobo stressed that his decision to block the tax hike does not mean that the Palmerola airport project, valued at US$130 million, will be cancelled or delayed. "I have already communicated with [InterAirports] and said that a technical committee should look for intelligent, solid, and creative [financing] mechanisms," said President Lobo.

Good news for all. Thanks for finding this.

The airport in question, if you read between the lines, only became an issue when Honduras decided to break ties with Venzuala's current exalted high leader and comrade, Hugo Chavez (the guy who dresses in Khadafi's old clothes). Then the foreign aid for the project from Chavez's friends disappeared- a nice excuse to stop paying in a down economy. It was US money by a circuitous route, drug interdiction funding.

I would think that we (the US) will be writing a check for the airport. Now that $60 will, come out of everybody's tax payments instead. :wink:

Funny how things work out.
 
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