Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services

Hay River (Oct 08/01) - An ailing travel industry has hit Hay River, with one of two travel agencies planning to close a street-front office.

A manager at Mack Travel, which opened its Hay River doors in 1994, blames airlines and not the Sept. 11 World Trade Center disaster for the cutback.

For the past six years airlines have been reducing caps on commissions from airline ticket sales. The latest cut, to $28 for a return ticket, kicked in Sept. 24. The closure decision was made then, said operations manager Allen Stanzel.

"It's not outright sayonara," he said.

An employee will remain in Hay River to book boat tours and wholesale travel, but there won't be a store for ordinary travelers to walk into and buy tickets, he said. The closure will take place Jan. 2.

"The industry is headed for zero commissions. Then, you'll need a critical mass of customers and the travel market in Hay River doesn't have that critical mass."

NorthwesTel and the GNWT will also have to find someone else to take over as payment agents and registry operators. Stanzel says there will be no job losses if a new registry hires the employee doing that job at Mack Travel.

The manager of competing Norland Travel says changes in the industry means Hay River's population of 3,600 can only support one travel agency.

"Industry-wide, things are definitely slow with people being nervous to travel. Locally, I don't think there's a big change," Mark Harris said.

"We're fortunate we don't have to worry about other locations, I think it's easier for us."

Mack Travel owner Jim Robertson, who came North to work for Hudson's Bay company, began his agency in Inuvik in 1969. Four other locations since opened, but one in Norman Wells previously closed.