The good news for the tribe is that after the first year of operation, the Hualapais are pretty close to meeting that 2009 goal, getting 2,000 guests a day, or a projected 730,000 annually. That's four times as many visitors as the area got before the Skywalk was built.

But the bad news for the tribe is that many of the people visiting say they felt ripped off when they went and vow never to return.

The Skywalk made quite a stir when it opened.

Conceived of by entrepreneur David Jin, designed by MRJ Architects and built by Lochsa Engineering, the Skywalk is a 70-foot horseshoe-shaped protrusion from the canyon rim at a location that is about as close to Las Vegas - 123 miles by road - as the Grand Canyon gets. The Skywalk has a glass walkway 4,000 feet above the canyon floor.

Before the attraction was developed, members of the tribe debated whether the economic benefit of the Skywalk would outweigh marring the natural beauty of the landscape. Grand Canyon West is one of the few public places along the rim that doesn't have so much as a fence or barrier railing to keep people from the ledge.

The Skywalk could be an economic turning point for the tribe but at the cost of turning a beautiful wilderness into a circus sideshow.

When the Skywalk opened, former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second person to set foot on the moon, was one of the first people to stroll on the glass walkway. Dozens of media representatives came from as far away as Europe and Asia to report the unveiling of the new tourist attraction.

At the time of the first walk, as it was called, many in the media weren't aware of or didn't report that when they were there, that would be the last time that cameras would be allowed on the Skywalk.

Following my visit, I noted that there may be more cameras per capita at the Grand Canyon than any place on Earth - but that they would be banned at the Skywalk.

In addition to the irritating camera ban, many visitors weren't aware of how much it was going to cost them to get on the glass walkway. The least expensive Grand Canyon West package that includes transport to the Skywalk area goes for $50, plus the $25 ticket to the walk.

Thanks to Internet trip reviews, travelers to Grand Canyon West have been able to vent about the camera ban and the high cost. Most of them said because they had put so much time and effort into getting there and that they didn't want to disappoint their children, they bit the bullet and paid the outrageous price.

Some trip reviewers had another complaint that appears to be on the verge of going away.

They weighed in on the bone-rattling journey along 14 miles of dirt road that links the main road between Dolan Springs and Meadview, Ariz., to the Hulapai Reservation. Some said they would not put their vehicles - and their passengers - through such torture ever again.

But a spokesman for the Mohave County Department of Public Works said the tribe and the private landowner of the Grand Canyon West Ranch (which isn't affiliated with the tribe or Grand Canyon West) have settled a lawsuit and the tribe is in the process of going to bid to pave the road. Once the road is paved, it will be turned over to the county for maintenance.

Once the job is completed later this year, the road headaches should end.

With the Skywalk on the map and visitors going there in record numbers by car and by plane and helicopter (flights operate regularly to an airstrip near the Skywalk from Las Vegas, Phoenix and Sedona), the tribe is now turning to the next phase of the Grand Canyon West's development.

The tribe's Grand Canyon Resort Corp. has selected Weller Architects P.C. to develop a 300-acre master planned visitor center at the entrance of Grand Canyon West as well as a lodge that will have views overlooking the canyon.

Albuquerque-based Weller is a Native American-owned architecture firm that has been in operation for 26 years.

A spokesman for the tribe said early looks of the plans promise an impressive visitor center. The three-story structure will have an open-air cafe, some extra seating decks to contemplate the canyon as the light changes its mood throughout the day and a museum-like setting for visitors to view the footings of the Skywalk on display.

A three-story atrium is planned and an indoor waterfall will plunge from the third story to the basement.

Because of the fly-in traffic and tour packaging, Grand Canyon West is as busy during the week as it is on weekends. Much of the drive-in traffic occurs on weekends with motorists and tours in buses arriving from Flagstaff, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The tribe has tried to pace Skywalk time so that there are no more than 50 people on the walk at any one time, even though it's capable of holding up to 120 people at a time. As the weather gets warmer, the tribe is expecting as many as 3,000 visitors a day, which offsets the low turnouts on cold and windy days and has produced the 2,000-a-day average.

Will the tribe ever change the no-camera rule or drop the price? At this point, probably not. Tribal leaders say they the no-camera rule is to protect the glass surface of the Skywalk. People who walk on it have to slip on cloth booties over their shoes before walking on it.

And, as long as the demand stays high, the tribe would have no reason to retreat from the $75 cost.

As long as people, aware or unaware of the camera policy and the price, continue to go to Grand Canyon West in record numbers, the tribe will have no reason to back away from its disappointing policies.

In other tourism news:

More trouble in the air: Three airlines with a presence in Las Vegas made announcements in response to record-high oil and fuel costs and all of them could eventually have an effect on local consumers.

Delta Air Lines, which has trimmed 20 flights a week to and from McCarran International Airport to a total of about 22 daily flights, announced this week that it would match United Airlines and US Airways in charging customers $25 to check a second bag on its flights.

The new policy begins May 1.

Aloha Airlines, which offers a daily nonstop flight to Oakland, Calif. (the plane eventually continues to Honolulu) announced last week that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, primarily because airline executives want to reorganize finances in the wake of higher fuel costs.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the company to continue to operate. Last year, Aloha flew 44,260 passengers between Las Vegas and Hawaii. A company announcement last week said Aloha's loyalty programs would continue to operate as advertised.

Finally, Frontier Airlines, which has an average of about eight flights a day to and from its Denver hub, announced plans to sell four of its Airbus jets. The company is selling two A318 and two A319 twin-engine jets, citing fuel-cost savings as the reason.

The airline's April schedule includes a 16.7 percent decrease in Las Vegas flights.

Other operational decreases from March to April were reported by AirTran (down 27.3 percent to about seven daily round trips), Allegiant Air (down 25.3 percent to about 17 round trips a day), US Airways (down 5.5 percent to about 98 round trips a day) and Midwest Airlines (down 7.5 percent to an average of about 31/2 round trips a day).

Remember how US Airways tried to take over Delta Air Lines in a hostile takeover last year? The hostilities apparently aren't over.

Delta announced last week that it is offering double frequent-flier miles to its customers flying into or out of Philadelphia, Phoenix and Charlotte, N.C. Customers buying first-class tickets would get triple miles on Delta's SkyMiles loyalty program. The promotion is good on flights through April 17.

Delta officials said they periodically have promotions in various markets based on competition. But this one seems to directly target US Airways, which operates hubs in Philadelphia, Phoenix and Charlotte.

McCarran continues to operate as a US Airways hub, but Delta opted not to offer the double- and triple-mileage bonus on flights to and from Las Vegas.