Travel Advice to Tobago has changed.

[Alan Cb]

Lily

I won't dare. This is obviously a very sensitive topic.

Furthermore, I really do not wish to carry this discussion into such depth, although perhaps others might.

I just wanted to express an opinion on the crime situation, and that really as far as I, personally, want to take it.

Alan

[David Watkins]

I agree with the weatherman!I always feel safe in Tobago-more so than in Bude in the high season at night.I also believe that if you feel safe you will be safe,it is also wise to be friendly
David.

[Lou W]

If you are so worried about the crime levels and murders in tobago then dont go out of the hotel complex you are staying in, stay by the swimming pool, dont go on the beach, dont go to sunday school, dont do any trips. It would be a shame to do this as you wont meet the locals, you wont experiance the island and you'd be a fool. You cant judge a country by it's crime levels and murders. In my opinion (which is shared by most on here) Tobago IS safe, it is the safest caribbean island i have been to. There are people I have met over there that only go to tobago now, and have been going there for the past 10 years.
A lot of the population are peaceful, loving rasta's. They live by their religion and disagree with all bloodshed and violence (people and all animals included). The locals love nothing more than chatting away to tourists and making friends, it is a very very very small minority that wanna do harm. Please dont let crime statistics and horror stories put worry into you over this beautiful island.
Is it only tobago that has crime in this world?

[Paul Tallet]

Thank you Lou

I have been searching for those words ... couldn't be put better.

Regards

[Paul Tallet]

Just to prove a point ...

I have taken an excerpt from an article on Yahoo News today ... I have edited out the location (not Tobago) because I feel it is unfair to draw attention to the country concerned and it does not need mentioning.

Holiday Horror: Briton Dies In Terror Blast

A Briton and an Irish woman have been killed and five Britons injured in a suicide bomb attack on a bus at a ******* holiday resort. A female suicide bomber is believed to have triggered the blast which is thought to have killed five people and injured 13 others.

The Foreign Office has confirmed one Briton has died, three have been seriously injured and two received minor injuries in the explosion.

I would conclude by pointing out that this is just one of many bad things that have not happened in Tobago ... which may give some readers a clue as to why we go there ...

... but I am not sure if terrorist acts are included in the day to day murder statistics for places like London, Madrid, New York ???

Regards

[Bob White]

Well said Lou and Paul. We set off to Tobago next week for our summer four week vacation. We enjoy meeting the locals who have always made our family welcome....... and to stay tied to a hotel complex would mean missing so much....... the diverse culture, people, food and scenery.

Paul thanks again for your weather updates. One of our daughters is named Emily, so we have followed Hurricane Emily with much interest including viewing the Sat. loops. Agree re definition of this hurricane. Fascinating.

It looks like we should expect unsettled weather during this stay but who cares on such a beautiful island.

[Paul Tallet]

Cheers Bob.

And may the sun shine on you.

Have a great holiday.

Regards

[Lily Mel]

Tobago woman chopped to death

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl ... d=90009531

Who is next?!
I expect the old same reactions: "it happens all over the world."
and "stay in your hotel".
I'm a sensitive person and cannot imagine to go there, making holiday with an egoistic big smile and do not think about the "horror stories" where the victims have been gone through and overall the impact for Tobago.

I want to make myself clear here that my concern is that Tobago is killing
her self. Just because Tobago is a little beautiful Island with only 50.000
citizens. It's still a small comunity.
By the way, why do several Foreign Offices give a negative travel advise?
why do "lokal" columnists and editorials warning last month the authorities about a culture of violence, which is fast engulfing their population?!

A pity that people will not even thoughtful about this and are not open minded to discuss this issue.The pointing to terrorism to compare with is bromide to me. Isn't it also to us to help Tobago a little, just to push them that the THA has to intervene drastically? No, not deadpanalty only, but more safety for instance.

It's true you can not judge a country by it's crime levels and murders this
is too complicated.
But to admit that it's a concern is not. I came with the statistics because
in my opinion people feel in the first palce to share their (safety) feelings
and later on to protect their feelings. Which is becomming personal.

So go to Tobago with your happy safety blinkers on. Otherwise it shoult spoil your holiday. Imagine that the good feelings and memories will take over by conscience.
It'seems to be indeed a sensitive topic.

Lily

[Lou W]

Lily, i'm a travel agent, i work for one of the big 5 leading tour operators. I sit day in and day out selling different countries throughout the world. As far as i'm aware we work towards foreign office advise and if they really deemed tobago an unsafe place to be then we wouldn't be allowed to sell it, no-one would be allowed to.
I will go to tobago with my "blinkers" on. I am safe. I feel safe. If you are really that bothered about the so called uncontrollable crime wave that you think is over there then cancel your holiday. I think sometimes you can read too much about the negatives and not the posatives. I'm sure that everyone on here can give you posative info about the island and my only negative about going on holiday to tobago is that i have to come back to england after 2 glorious weeks.
As I have said over and over again, I am safe over there. So safe that when me and my daughter go back in november we are stayin in a private villa. Some nights there maybe just the two of us, some nights i could have a housefull, which ever it is I am safe.

[Lily Mel]

But Lou, that's not my point!
When continuing like this, the reputation and vulnerabillity of Tobago
becomes worser.You only have to wait for it.
It's Tobago that counts now, don't want to repeat.
It's not what I think, but what the reportings are about the uncontrollable
crime. That's a fact. It is, as it is.

Of course it's important to read the posatives but also be fair and
transparent.
Because I'm the one who has negative news or want to discuss about how we maybe can help Tobago, I have to stay at home?
I do not understand it anymore. I'm speechless with amazement.

Maybe a little help or someone knows a useful leg up.
I hope people will think about what I and others have said.

Isn't it also to us to help Tobago a little, just to push them that
the THA has to intervene drastically?

in my opinion people feel in the first palce to share their (safety) feelings
and later on to protect their feelings. Which is becomming personal.

Imagine that the good feelings and memories will take over by conscience.

It is a matter of recognising and admitting that the crime situation in
Tobago appears to be getting worse, and for tourists, taking appropriate
common sense precautions when holidaying in Tobago.

To ignore the increasing crime rate is even stranger than to quote & compare satistics of murders as a ratio of population.

What is distressful is this "culture of violence" which people like to
explain away by the fact that "well most of the crime happens within
relationships, whereas tourists are relatively safe." That's nice. But what's
happening within the culture of Tobago that makes violence a way to resolve conflict? If this mindset is increasing, than that changes the character of the place, whether you are visiting or not.

point is that, just because you as a tourist aren't the victim of crime,
doesn't mean you should not be concerned about what is happening in Tobago.
When people feel that violence is the answer than it is bound to spread
unless the conditions that precipitate it are addressed.

[Paul Tallet]

Lily

Stop worrying ... you need to get this into perspective.

All these incidents arise from social, business disputes or family problems. These would rarely affect visitors to Tobago unless, of course, visitors decided to get 'too involved'.

This is in the local papers ... there was a murder in Tobago while I was there in March 2005 ... I did not know about it until I got home.

You must try to draw a distinction between this and places in the world where it is genuinely dangerous for tourists to visit ... because they are targeted by terrorists/robbers etc.

I am not saying you could never be robbed in Tobago ... you can be robbed anywhere ... but I guess it would be fair to say that Tobago is one of a few places in the world where we, as visitors, are genuinely welcomed and needed ...

... my worst experiences in Tobago would be the 'hard sell' to buy Aloe Vera or a Boat Trip.

Tobago may have it's problems like any other place ... but tourists/visitors are not part of those problems.

I hope this helps

Regards

[Sue J]

I just want to echo what Paul says.

I got back from Tobago on Friday (yes, will post reviews but been too busy this weekend...). In each of the cases that we discussed with locals while we were there there was more to a crime/problem than is clear to someone just reading the news remotely. In each case there was an 'angle' that made me feel that there was no chance that I would ever have been a target for any of the crimes or problems.

The level of general security can be summed up by our experience car hire wise; we made the decision to hire a car for the next day, locally in Castara. The arrangement was 'I'll drop it off tonight and if you aren't around I'll leave the keys'. We weren't around, and sure enough both the car and keys were left, but not quite as we had expected...........the keys were left in the car, which was left unlocked. Needless to say, everything was still there in the morning.

I'm all for open debate about risks, but if you are going to spend your entire holiday (and the time leading up to it) worrying about security then maybe you should be considering somewhere different.

[Paul Tallet]

Good points Sue.

But I sense you think of a safer place ... where different?

Regards

[Horst Heiser]

Hello,
I don´t want to follow Your discussion. But the people, local and tourists, in the north-west-aerea (Cascara, Parlatuvier, Bloody Bay etc) should know : Since several days the police and the military is hunting a murder in this aerea. This man killed his former wife, chopped her six year old son and a police-man. He was seen this morning in Parlatuvier.
Be careful !
For details please read the local newspapers.We got this information just a few minutes ago.
Take care.
Horst Heiser

[Sue J]

Paul - no I'm not thinking of a safer place. My point is that I felt very safe, based on the information I had.

In my view, if Lily doesn't feel that it is safe then she should think of a different place........personally, I can't think of anywhere I have visited that I have felt safer, perhaps with the exception of the Maldives. But in the Maldives you have absolutely no contact with the locals. Despite the brilliant snorkelling there (my passion), the lack of the local interaction spoils it for me. And Lily needs to work out what makes her feel safe, it's different for everyone.

[Lily Mel]

Hello Sue,

Indeed feelings are personal.
I hope you read my last post, the last one on the sixth page. (Sun Jul 17)
I'm worried about the reputation and vulnerabillity of Tobago.

lily

[Paul Tallet]

Hi Lily / Sue

Lily has made a good point ... took me a while to understand her ... I guess that the local reports of bad incidents is one thing although I expect that a small minority of people would notice this and even fewer would let it affect their decision to visit Tobago.

The big worry could be the type of visitors that are attracted to Tobago ... for instance, I have felt safe in the Algarve when I go there ... nice and safe in a villa up in the hills ... but I would not like to venture down to the resorts at nights ... rowdy crowds ... you can hear the noise from miles away and then hear stories about it in the morning.

There are a few Caribbean resorts that attract this type of tourism but Tobago does not ... and for as long as that is the case and the numbers of visitors do not increase too much, I sense that Tobago will always be a safe place and just have it's local issues to deal with ...

... long may it be.

Hope I am reading you right Lily.

Regards

[Steve Pitts]

I've followed this thread with interest and have noticed that most of those who have visited before and intend to do so again are not fearful of violence against themselves or their families - neither am I.

I note that there have been 6 murders this year (The Tobago News)- all were Trindad or Tobago residents. No fatalities within the tourist groups who now total over 100,000 visitors per year.

If one looks at the homocide rate in the USA (I only cite the US as an example as the statistics are readily available) the number of murders per capita in 1999 was 6.8 people killed per 100,000 of population - equivalent to 18,209 murders in total - the lowest level since 1967 when the level was 6.2 per 100,000. In 1950 the rate was 4.6 per 100,000.

Given the population of Tobago is approx. 50,000, then 6 murders in 6 months seems higher than that of the USA in 1999. But of course it isn't that simple. Paul has made the point that the Tobago fatalities have been either domestic disputes (two were relationships gone wrong) or the result of arguments between rival groups or individuals.

Looking to the UK, a double murder was committed in the Wiltshire town of Wootton Basset last week. Probably family related, it shows that here in the UK, even a relatively quiet rural town is subject to violent death occasionally and I'm sure that all of us can remember more local examples of crime, including murder and rape on our own doorsteps.

Like others, I'm happy to re-visit Tobago, where I feel safer than I do in my own home town of Bristol, or almost anywhere else in Britain for that matter.

Cheers
Steve

[Lily Mel]

Yes, Paul I'm you understand.
This topic is becomming a very long one.......
I have to experience myself if I do feel safe in Tobago.
And already believe the overall positive reactions over here.

Still when this "culture of violence" continues, the reputation and vulnerabillity of Tobago becomes worser. You only have to wait for it.
For how long nobody knows?
I will write a letter to few newspapers in T&T.

It's time for me and my husband to concentrate what we gonna and wanna do in Tobago in october.

Lily

[David Watkins]

That's the attitude,Lily Mel,go and enjoy and i wager you will go back!!!!
David(getting closer )