Air Services Limited (ASL) has introduced two more flights that offer easy access to Lethem, Bom Fim and Kaieteur Falls to both local and international visitors and has received plaudits for its commitment to local tourism.
General Manager of ASL Annette Arjoon-Martins explained that the tours were in planning since 2009 when the Takutu Bridge was built and ASL commenced a daily scheduled service from Lethem. She said the two new tours will make it easier and more affordable for Lethem and Bom Fim residents to explore Kaieteur Falls and local Georgetown residents and other visitors to explore Lethem and Bom Fim.
Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana President Shaun McGrath commended the dedication and innovation of ASL in assisting the development of tourism in Guyana. He explained that it not only opens the pride of Guyana, Kaieteur Falls, to its local Rupununi and Lethem residents but will also assist in showcasing the beauty of the country to neighbouring Brazilians.
Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan agreed with McGrath adding that the new tours will see development of a better and healthier relationship with Brazilians which will yield positive results in the tourism, marketing, and general developing of the hinterland’s infrastructure. “Here it is that we have such incredible beauty and yet as a country we cannot use it,” Bulkan said as he highly praised the “spectacular, natural beauty” of the hinterlands. “Though we are surrounded by all of this scenic beauty and natural resources we are still physically poor,” he noted further explaining that inferior infrastructure makes it difficult to utilize our “gifts” resourcefully.
Bulkan explained that even though we have a superior tourism attraction, in 2013 Costa Rica, a country which relies heavily on its agricultural resources, had a total revenue of US$2.4 billion in tourism, compared to Guyana’s US$900 million. He revealed that there are discussions and plans to put more focus on developing hinterland infrastructure, which will aid in the overall increase in tourism.
Previously, if residents of Lethem and surrounding areas wanted to visit Kaieteur Falls, they would have to travel to Georgetown and then to Kaieteur. The new tour will make it possible for flights directly from Lethem to Kaieteur Falls. The Lethem-Kaieteur tour costs US$145 per person and departs at 9 am. The flight takes approximately one hour, after which visitors will have a one and a half hour tour of the Kaieteur Park and Falls and then depart at 12.30 pm.
The second tour, which is dubbed the Lethem Day Tour, costs US$240 per person and will be available on the last Saturday of every month. It will depart the Ogle at 7 am and arrive at Lethem at 8.30 am where a bus will take the visitors on a tour of Lethem and then across the Takutu Bridge over the border to Bom Fim. Upon returning to Lethem the bus will continue on a half hour journey through several villages before arriving at the base of the Kanuku Mountains. A five minutes trek will then take visitors to Kumu Falls, following which the flight departs at 1 pm.
